The Children of the Three
by Mapleclaw
Summary: The Three have taken mates, and their children have proved to have powers just as mysterious as theirs. After the Great Battle, no cat knows who to trust; they aren't even sure if they can trust their Clanmates. Four will become five...
1. Allegiances

**ShadowClan**

Leader:

Blackstar-large white tom with one jet-black forepaw

Apprentice, Cheetahpaw

Deputy:

Rowanclaw-ginger tom

Medicine Cat:

Littlecloud-very small tabby tom

Warriors:

Oakfur-small brown tom

Apprentice, Ferretpaw

Smokefoot-black tom

Toadfoot-dark brown tom

Applefur-mottled brown she-cat

Crowfrost-black-and-white tom

Ratscar-brown tom with long scar across his back

Apprentice, Pinepaw

Snowbird-pure white she-cat

Tawnypelt-tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Apprentice, Starlingpaw

Olivenose-tortoiseshell she-cat

Owlclaw-light brown tabby tom

Shrewfoot-gray she-cat with black feet

Scorchfur-dark gray tom

Redwillow-mottled brown-and-ginger tom

Tigerheart-dark brown tabby tom

Dawnpelt-cream-furred she-cat

Apprentices:

Ferretpaw-cream-and-gray tom

Pinepaw-black she-cat

Starlingpaw-ginger tom

Cheetahpaw - beautiful dappled golden she-cat with green eyes

Queens:

Kinkfur-tabby she-cat, with long fur that sticks out at all angles

Ivytail-black, white, and tortoiseshell she-cat

Elders:

Cedarheart-dark gray tom

Tallpoppy-long-legged light brown tabby she-cat

Snaketail-dark brown tom with a tabby-striped tail

Whitewater-white she cat with long fur, blind in one eye

**ThunderClan**

Leader: Firestar-ginger tom with a flame-colored pelt

Deputy: Brambleclaw-dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Apprentice, Nightpaw

Medicine Cat: Jayfeather-gray tabby tom with blind blue eyes

Apprentice, Snowpaw

Warriors: Graystripe-long-haired gray tom

Dustpelt-dark brown tabby tom

Sandstorm-pale ginger she-cat with green eyes

Brackenfur-golden brown tabby tom

Sorreltail-tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with amber eyes

Cloudtail-long-haired white tom with blue eyes

Brightheart-white she-cat with ginger patches

Millie-striped gray tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Thornclaw-golden brown tabby tom

Squirrelflight-dark ginger she-cat with green eyes

Leafpool-light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes, former medicine cat

Spiderleg-long-limbed black tom with brown underbelly and amber eyes

Apprentice, Hawkpaw

Birchfall-light brown tabby tom

Whitewing-white she-cat with green eyes

Berrynose-cream-colored tom

Hazeltail-small gray-and-white she-cat

Apprentice, Cherrypaw

Mousewhisker-gray-and-white tom

Apprentice, Molepaw

Cinderheart-gray tabby she-cat

Lionblaze-golden tabby tom with amber eyes

Foxleap-reddish tabby tom

Icecloud-white she-cat

Toadstep-black-and-white tom

Rosepetal-dark cream she-cat

Briarlight-dark brown she-cat

Blossomfall-tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat

Bumblestripe-very pale gray tom with black stripes

Ivypool - silver-and-white tabby she-cat with dark blue eyes

Apprentices:

Cherrypaw - ginger she-cat

Molepaw - brown and cream tom

Snowpaw - pure white tom with faint gray tabby stripes and green eyes

Nightpaw - jet black she-cat with green eyes and a white splash on her chest, white paws, and white tip of tail

Hawkpaw - dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Queens:

Ferncloud-pale gray (with darker flecks) she-cat with green eyes

Daisy-cream long-furred cat from the horseplace

Dovewing-pale gray she-cat with blue eyes (mother to Hawkpaw)

Poppyfrost-tortoiseshell she-cat

Elders: Mousefur-small dusky brown she-cat

Purdy-plump tabby former loner with a gray muzzle

**WindClan**

Leader: Onestar-brown tabby tom

Deputy: Ashfoot-gray she-cat

Medicine Cat: Kestrelflight-mottled gray tom

Warriors: Crowfeather-dark gray tom

Owlwhisker-light brown tabby tom

Apprentice, Whiskerpaw

Whitetail-small white she-cat

Nightcloud-black she-cat

Gorsetail-very pale gray-and-white tom with blue eyes

Weaselfur-ginger tom with white paws

Harespring-brown-and-white tom

Leaftail-dark tabby tom with amber eyes

Antpelt-brown tom with one black ear

Emberfoot-gray tom with two dark paws

Heathertail-light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Apprentice, Furzepaw

Breezepelt-black tom with amber eyes

Sedgewhisker-light brown tabby she-cat

Swallowtail-dark gray she-cat

Sunstrike-tortoiseshell she-cat with large white mark on her forehead

Bouldertail - gray tom

Apprentices:

Whiskerpaw-light brown tom

Furzepaw-gray-and-white she-cat

Queens: None listed

Elders: Webfoot-dark gray tabby tom

Tornear-tabby tom

**RiverClan**

Leader: Mistystar-gray she-cat with blue eyes

Deputy: Reedwhisker-black tom

Medicine Cat: Mothwing-dappled golden she-cat

Apprentice, Willowshine

Warriors: Graymist-pale gray tabby she-cat

Mintfur-light gray tabby tom

Icewing-white she-cat with blue eyes

Minnowtail-dark gray she-cat

Apprentice, Mossypaw

Pebblefoot-mottled gray tom

Apprentice, Rushpaw

Mallownose-light brown tabby tom

Robinwing-tortoiseshell-and-white tom

Beetlewhisker-brown-and-white tabby tom

Petalfur-gray-and-white she-cat

Grasspelt-light brown tom

Troutfur - pale gray tabby she-cat

Hollowbelly - dark brown tabby tom

Apprentices:

Willowshine-gray tabby she-cat

Mossypaw-brown-and-white she-cat

Rushpaw-light brown tabby tom

Queens: Duskfur-brown tabby she-cat

Mosspelt-tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes

Elders: Dapplenose-mottled gray she-cat

Pouncetail-ginger-and-white tom


	2. Prologue

Moonlight filtered through the thick trees. A twoleg nest loomed in the forest, still and silent. Glittering amber eyes glinted from the bushes, watching and waiting. The eyes were questioning and waiting.

A rustle of movement made the amber eyes spark. A light gray she-cat with pale gold eyes stepped out of the shadows, staring at the amber eyes. "Tigerheart, is that you?"

Bracken rustled behind the she-cat. Looking suspicious, a dark tabby tom with glowing amber eyes padded out from the shelter of the bushes. "Dovewing? You came."

"Yes." Dovewing murmured. "But the news isn't exactly something you may want to hear." She glanced back at the bush, and a small wail sounded from it.

"What's in there?" asked Tigerheart, peering over her shoulder. "We haven't met in ages, listen, I'm really sorry I told Blackstar about the herb patch..."

Dovewing flicked her tail. "I know." she whispered. "I haven't come to see you in awhile or gone to Gatherings because of this..." She dipped her head into the pile of bracken and pulled out a small bundle of fur. The kit was a dappled golden, with darker golden splotches on its body.

"Why did you take a kit from the ThunderClan camp?" Tigerheart asked. He knew what is was, and what it meant, he just couldn't believe it. He was... a father? Was this the only kit? Why had Dovewing brought it here, on the border from ShadowClan to ThunderClan?

"Mouse-brain." Dovewing growled. "It's ours. I had two kits. This is one. I wanted to give at least one to you, so you wouldn't have to live with watching them growing up in my Clan."

Tigerheart was unsure. How would he explain it if he just randomly brought a kit into the camp? And who would take care of it? There was only one cat in ShadowClan who knew of Dovewing and him, and thankfully she was a pregnant she-cat... it might work. "What's their names? What do they look like?"

Dovewing couldn't help but purr. "This one is Cheetahkit. She has one brother. He's a dark brown tabby with white paws, I named him Hawkkit."

"Those are beautiful names." whispered Tigerheart. "They sound like beautiful kits... why did you choose this one for me?"

"You need another she-kit in your life to take care of while you're fighting in that Dark Forest." Dovewing mewed, softly pushing the mewling she-kit to Tigerheart. "Promise me you'll tell her who her real mother is when the time's right. I don't want her growing up in a lie like Jayfeather and Lionblaze have. Also, when you're bringing her back to camp, try to get the ThunderClan scent off of her."

"How are you going to cover up her disappearance?" asked Tigerheart.

Dovewing shrugged. "I'll just say she wandered off and I couldn't find her again, or that she died of greencough. Jayfeather and Lionblaze and Ivypool are the only cats that know who the real father is, so they did a good job of covering it up."

"Oh." mewed Tigerheart. "Well, I guess I'll take Cheetahkit back to ShadowClan before she dies. If that's really what you want." He looked at her intently.

"It is." Dovewing's voice died. "I know you couldn't live watching your kits grow up somewhere else. It'll be hard without Cheetahkit, and for you without Hawkkit, but I think we'll get through this together."

"We will." Tigerheart mewed, lightly running his tail down her flank. Lightly, he picked up the squirming kit and started padding back to ShadowClan camp. Forgetting to say something, he placed the kit on the ground softly. "Oh, and Dovewing?"

"Yes?" asked Dovewing, turning around.

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>"A cat in the prophecy isn't supposed to have kits! She might not be prepared in time for the battle!" hissed Bluestar. The cats of StarClan were sitting around the Moonpool and arguing.<p>

"There have been too many halfClan kits these days." mewed Nightstar. "And from a ShadowClan warrior? I can't believe it."

"But there is a prophecy, as you know of." Lionheart meowed to Nightstar and Bluestar. "Just like the Three, this is an important part of the prophecy."

"Yes, and that idiot Dovewing gave her away to the wrong Clan!" Yellowfang growled from the back. "How will the prophecy ever be fulfilled if the wrong cats are in the wrong Clan? They all must be in ThunderClan! Since ThunderClan has the Three, we must survive!"

StarClan was still separated. The cats of the stars were grouped in their Clans they belonged to when they were alive, but they were all quarreling about the new kit.

Redtail stepped forward. "Cheetahkit's father is part of the Dark Forest. He is now becoming unsure of his loyalties, but Cheetahkit isn't being raised well. How can she fulfill the prophecy when her mother is one of the Three and her father a Dark Forest cat?"

Mews of outrage and agreement followed his words.

"That's the problem." Tallstar hissed. "The Dark Forest is rising, and Tigerheart will have to turn against his family and kits! All of the Clans will!"

Sunstar flicked his tail impatiently. "Bluestar, will you remind us of the prophecy?" He asked politely.

Bluestar recited the words with ease, "There will be Two after the Three, with the powers to run as fast as the swift cheetah, and fade away into the night like shadows. They will reunite the Lost Clans."

"They are all of the Three." Hailstar growled. "Especially, there is one of Jayfeather who is forbidden to do such things!"

Yellowfang growled. "Too many Clan cats mixing with medicine cats and CrossClan. Shall we tell Firestar of the prophecy? I am already telling Jayfeather."

"No." Bluestar mewed. "Firestar has two more lives yet. There is darkness coming that will destroy him and shake ThunderClan soon. Jayfeather will tell Firestar. But do send a sign to Blackstar about the Three and Cheetahkit, because he must know. He has three lives left, and his time is almost up as well."

Yellowfang nodded and flicked her tail and disappeared into the stars.

The meeting broke up. Bluestar and Lionheart were walking together and sharing thoughts.

"Bleustar, what do you mean by ThunderClan will be shaken?" The old deputy asked. "I don't forsee anything."

"Look deeper." Bluestar urged. "The Dark Forest has already figured out how to possess cats, and they have chosen wisely. ThunderClan will never expect what is to happen. Sadly, we cannot stop it."

Bluestar almost flinched at her own words. The Dark Forest was getting stronger, and not even StarClan could stop it. They were completely powerless.


	3. Chapter One: Cheetahkit's Apprenticeship

"Wake up, sleepyhead!" Cheetahkit felt a paw prod her side. She slowly blinked open her eyes to find the black-and-white face of Badgerkit staring at her. She jumped, and Badgerkit yowled with amusement. "It's your apprentice ceremony today!" he yowled. "Blackstar just came in, but you were too sleepy!"

Blackstar came in? Cheetahkit thought. Mouse dung! She quickly started grooming herself. Applefur, Cheetahkit's mother, padded into the nursery, her dark green eyes gleaming with amusement and pride.

"Go see Blackstar." she instructed. "He came here not a while ago, and wanted to discuss your mentor with you." Cheetahkit liked to think she looked like her pretty mother. She had dappled golden fur, and darker golden splotches on her flank. Cheetahkit had dark emerald eyes, as well.

"Bye, Cheetahkit." Badgerkit mewed, turning to attack his brother, Adderkit.

"See you later, Badgerkit." mewed Cheetahkit, skipping out into the clearing. It was a normal day in the life of ShadowClan; the elders Nightwhisper and Tallpoppy were bathing in the sun, Rowanclaw was mewing the patrols, Tigerheart, Cheetahkit's father, and Dawnpelt were sharing a squirrel, and Starlingpaw and Ferretpaw were play-fighting. Cheetahkit had heard a rumor that Ferretpaw and Pinepaw were getting their warrior names very soon, maybe a few sunrises later. They looked as big as full-grown warriors, and the newer apprentice Starlingpaw looked much smaller.

Pinepaw looked down at Cheetahkit from where she was standing in the middle of the clearing. "Hi, Cheetahkit! Is it true your apprentice ceremony is today?"

"Yes." mewed Cheetahkit. "I'm really excited!"

"Well, good luck!" Pinepaw mewed from over her shoulder as the she-cat headed towards the apprentice's den to meet Ferretpaw and Starlingpaw.

Cheetahkit nervously padded up to the leader's den. It was a hollow in a tree, which had the High Branch on it. From the High Branch, Blackstar made Clan announcements and ceremonies. "Blackstar?" squeaked Cheetahkit. "Did you want to see me?"

"Yes, come in." a low voice rumbled from inside the den. Gulping, the young kit padded into Blackstar's den. Blackstar's white fur gleamed from the shadows, and his huge black paws were hidden in the shadows. "Welcome, young Cheetahkit. I wanted to let you know that you shall be my new apprentice."

"Me?" Cheetahkit asked. "I'm your new apprentice? Wow!" Rarely did Blackstar take on apprentices, it was a huge honor to be a leader or deputy's apprentice, and usually they only mentored leader's or deputy's kits. Cheetahkit was kin with Rowanclaw, but he wasn't her father, he was her father's father.

"Yes, you are." Blackstar's eyes were glowing with amusement. "The ceremony will be soon. I'd tidy up if I were you."

"Yes, Blackstar." Cheetahkit mewed, dipping her head and bounding out into the clearing, her eyes alight with excitement. I can't wait to tell Tigerheart! She thought, running up to her father. Her father's amber eyes focused on Cheetahkit.

"Hey, Cheetahkit." he mewed. Dawnpelt, Tigerheart's sister, was beside him. She waved her tail in "hello." "What's up?" Tigerheart asked.

"Guess what!" she squeaked. "Blackstar's going to be my mentor! He just told me!"

"Wow." Tigerheart mewed, his eyes wide. "That's a great honor! I'm so proud of you." He blinked. "Did he say why?"

"Nope." answered Cheetahkit. "But my ceremony's beginning soon! Will you be there?"

"Of course I will." Tigerheart purred. "I'm here now, aren't I? How about you go to your mother and clean up? Your fur's all sticking out."

Cheetahkit nodded. "Okay. Bye Dawnpelt! By Tigerheart!" She called as she hopped over to her mother, who was sitting outside of the nursery, watching Cheetahkit. "Applefur, Applefur, guess what!" Cheetahkit yowled.

"I already know." Applefur mewed, her voice excited. "That's great!"

Cheetahkit yawned as her mother washed her. She saw the ShadowClan cats gathering around the Tree, and shook her mother off as she saw Blackstar hop onto the High Branch. Cheetahkit made her way to the front of the crowd, Tigerheart and Applefur sitting proudly beside her.

Blackstar began immediately. "Cheetahkit, you have reached the age of six moons and it's time for you to be apprenticed. From this day until you receive your warrior name, you shall be called Cheetahpaw. I ask StarClan to watch over you and guide you to the strength of becoming a warrior..." His eyes flashed to the ShadowClan cats. "I will be Cheetahpaw's mentor."

As he hopped down from the High Branch and touched noses with Cheetahpaw, surprised gasps came from the crowd, but cats cheered, "Cheetahpaw! Cheetahpaw!" Tigerheart's being the loudest.

Tigerheart, Tawnypelt, Rowanclaw, Applefur and Dawnpelt crowded around Cheetahpaw first, mewing their congratulations. Her more distant family, like Toadfoot and Marshclaw, Applefur's brothers, followed, and the other apprentices, warriors, kits, queens and even elders followed.

The crowd cleared away, and Cheetahpaw bounced up to Blackstar. "What're we going to do first?" she asked, unable to contain her excitement. "Are we gonna patrol? Shred some RiverClan fatties? Learn how to fight? Or to hunt?"

Blackstar's whiskers twitched. "No, none of that today. Today, I must teach you the basics, like the Warrior Code, and show you around the boundaries."

"Oh, sounds like fun! I've never been out of camp before! Well, Littlecloud and I went out to collect herbs on day, but -" Cheetahpaw jabbered on.

"Save your stories for later." Blackstar murmured. "We have a very important mission to do today... patrol the borders. I'll show you around. Come on."

They padded out of the camp, and the clearing unfolded into a dense pine tree forest. Nettles lined the ground, and soft grass dotted around the trees. The pines towered above Cheetahpaw, and she gasped, looking up. Blackstar mewed, "Alright. First rule, Defend ShadowClan, even with your life. You can have friends in other Clans, but you must remain loyal to your Clan."

Blackstar explained the warrior code to Cheetahpaw until they reached a forest, but it was unlike ShadowClan's. ShadowClan's forest was filled with shadows and pines, but this forest was full of greenery and trees filled with leaves. Undergrowth filled the ground below the trees. Birdsong was heard through that side of the forest.

"This is ThunderClan territory." Blackstar growled. "ThunderClan cats are brave, but foolish. They are soft, and let outsiders into their Clan. Their leader is Firestar, who is decent, but grew up a kittypet. One of their warriors killed our former deputy, Russetfur. Surely you've heard the story of the Battle of the Grassland?"

Cheetahpaw nodded. It was one of the first stories Cedarheart, the elder, had told her. "Yes. No one won, right?"

"Correct. But ThunderClan claim the territory as theirs. We let them, because it's useless anyway." Blackstar shrugged and padded closer to a wide expanse of water. The small waves lapped up on the small, sandy shore. This must be the lake so many cats talked about.

Voicing her thoughts, Blackstar mewed, "This is the lake. We didn't have one in the old forest, and now the lake separates us from WindClan. You can't smell them now, because the winds going from ShadowClan territory, but you'll know their smell when you smell it. It's a musky, rabbity, grassy odor. They are run by Onestar, who is a thief and a fox-hearted traitor. You can't trust a WindClan cat anymore." Blackstar's eyes flashed, and Cheetahpaw wondered what he was so angry about. "Come." he meowed, heading towards the other direction.

The two cats walked through endless pine trees for awhile until the pine trees gave way into a grassier territory. A small river blocked them from going any further. Some sort of bridge went across it, and it smelled of Twolegs. Cheetahpaw smelled a fishy smell and sniffed. "Uck! What's that? Is is RiverClan?"

Blackstar nodded. "They're leader is Mistystar, who is overall peaceful and decent. Her mother was Bluestar, the old leader of ThunderClan, so she's halfClan. As you probably know, RiverClan hunts fish and the occasional mouse. When Leopardstar ruled, they freely went across the border. Now, they don't go a whisker's length over it."

Cheetahpaw was deep in thought. The other Clans were strange, she thought, and she was glad to be in ShadowClan, which was a normal and safe Clan. She had heard those ThunderClan warriors were bloodthirsty and evil, and you could never trust a ThunderClan cat. They were greedy, and always wanted more territory. They also sucked up to other Clans, and favored WindClan until the WindClan cats had invaded ThunderClan and the Great Battle had started. Eventually, she nodded, and her and Blackstar padded deeper into the forest.

"Since the sun is still high, we'll learn how to hunt." Blackstar mewed. "First, you crouch down, like this. Your belly should be brushing the ground. Lightly, place each paw on the ground. Move slowly. When you're in leaping distance, pounce on your prey and kill it. We don't crash through the forest like ThunderClan, or hide under tunnels like the cowards of WindClan. We don't hunt clumsily, like those fat RiverClan cats either. We are ShadowClan, and we streak through the shadows of the pines sneakily and carefully. I don't expect you to catch anything on your first try, but why not give it a chance? Watch me, and then you can try." Blackstar's eyes were trained on a sparrow nibbling on a nut not far away from them. Keeping to the shadows, Blackstar melted into the darkness and appeared moments later, stalking the bird. In a split second, the ShadowClan leader's paw flashed out and his neck stretched out to deliver the killing bite to the twitching bird. He returned with the bird clutched in his jaws, dropping it at Cheetahpaw's paws.

"Did you see how I kept to the shadows?" Blackstar asked. "That's what you need to do. Even though my white pelt sticks out, I hide behind the trees and disappear into the shadows."

Cheetahpaw nodded, and slunk away into the shadows to scout for prey. Almost instantly, she saw a squirrel at the base of the tree. Crouching low on the ground and keeping to the shadows, she slowly made her way towards the squirrel. It hadn't noticed her yet, and hiding behind a tree, she kept going from shadow to shadow. When it was time to spring, she leaped at the squirrel and caught it in her paws. Accidently, she delivered the killing bite to the back, but the squirrel still went limp. Cheetahpaw widened her eyes in amazement, rarely did a new apprentice ever catch prey on their first hunting session! Picking up her squirrel, which was almost as big as she was, Cheetahpaw trotted over to Blackstar, who's eyes were wide.

"Wow, I'm impressed." Blackstar mewed. His voice, usually level and even, was alight with surprise and pride. "Your first catch, on your first day? I'm even surprised, it's no doubt you'll be a great hunter when you get older. Come on, let's get back to the camp, you need to rest."


	4. Chapter Two: Nightpaw's Skirmish

The breeze whispered through the trees, bringing a moment of coolness in the hot summer. The camp was alive with the bustling of cats and the rush to go to their patrols.

The sun blinded Nightpaw's eye momentarily as she struggled to wake up. The black she-cat stretched and padded out of apprentices' den, waving her tail in greeting as she padded up to her mentor, Brambleclaw. The ThunderClan deputy had finished with the patrols and was ready to train with his apprentice. Nightpaw had been an apprentice for a few days now, along with her brother Snowpaw. She had been described as the bossiest of the litter, while Snowpaw had been told he was "the shadow of her sister". Snowpaw had found trouble hunting, and decided he was destined to be a medicine cat, with his kin, Jayfeather, teaching him the ways of StarClan.

Brambleclaw mewed to her, "We're going on patrol with Hazeltail and Cherrypaw by the ShadowClan border. Please... please do not cause a fight, Nightpaw. Do you promise me?"

Nightpaw sighed. "I promise." Last time, on patrol at WindClan, she had picked a fight with a WindClan apprentice named Furzepaw and almost won until Brambleclaw had to practically drag her off of the WindClan cat so they wouldn't cause more trouble.

"Okay, good." Brambleclaw mewed as Cherrypaw and Hazeltail approached. Cherrypaw glanced at Nightpaw, a friendly gleam in her eyes before bounding after Hazeltail and Brambleclaw. Cherrypaw and Molepaw's warrior ceremony was today, and Cinderheart's litter of kits was tomorrow. No one knew who the father of Flamekit and Featherkit were, though. Nightpaw was lucky that she had such caring parents. Lionblaze and Icecloud were very caring and supportive to her, Snowpaw and Fogpaw. Every cat knew that Lionblaze was the best fighter in the Clan, and his three kits had a lot to impress their Clan with.

The cats weaved through the forest skillfully until they reached the ShadowClan border. To Nightpaw's surprise, a patrol was already there, with Rowanclaw, Blackstar and a small, golden tabby she-cat with darker golden spots going along her flank and bright green eyes. The she-cat looked a bit younger than Nightpaw, but had the fluffy look of an apprentice.

"Greetings, Rowanclaw, Blackstar." Brambleclaw mewed, dipping his head respectfully. Hazeltail and Thornclaw followed, and the ShadowClan and ThunderClan cats looked at Nightpaw expectantly. Awkwardly, Nightpaw bowed her head to the ShadowClan leader.

"Nice to see you here." Blackstar growled, not sounding so happy to see the ThunderClan cats at the border. "We're just marking our border here."

The mottled apprentice took a step forward, her eyes flashing. "I can't smell the border, Blackstar." She mewed, her eyes wide. "It's only ShadowClan scent. Have the ThunderClan cats gone by the border?"

The other ThunderClan cats stayed calm, while Nightpaw unsheathed her claws. What an annoying kiss-up apprentice!

"Yes, Cheetahpaw, I can't smell their stink either." Rowanclaw growled, glaring at Nightpaw.

Brmableclaw looked down and opened his jaws. "Actually, we're standing on our border." He narrowed his eyes at the apprentice. "We haven't marked this border in a bit, so I understand your concerns of not smelling our scent."

Blackstar nodded. "Well observed, Cheetahpaw." He meowed, marking the border. The cat called Cheetahpaw nodded, and shot a triumphant glare at Nightpaw that seemed to say, "I'm better than you." Nightpaw snarled, scraping her claws against the grass.

Brambleclaw shot her a warning glance. "Don't." He mouthed.

Rowanclaw glared at the ThunderClan cats. "Keep your cats under control." He growled. "We don't want a fight here, it's not our fault our apprentice just proved the noble ThunderClan cats wrong."

Cherrypaw followed Nightpaw and unsheathed her claws. Cheetahpaw, from the other side, glared at the two defiantly. Nightpaw noticed that Cheetahpaw's eyes were the same color as her's, the same shade of emerald green. Nightpaw dismissed the thought, and guessed that all cats with green eyes had eyes like that, but staring at Cheetahpaw was like staring at her shadow. The two she-cats had the same length tail, the same face shape, and the same build. At the same time, they both crouched to the ground and waved their tail, ready to pounce.

"Nightpaw, please." Brambleclaw mewed, padding over to his apprentice. "Don't let them get to you. They're trying to provoke you..."

"Cherrypaw, you too. Get back here. We don't want to fight, especially when their Clan leader and deputy are present." Hazeltail backed up Brambleclaw, her tail flicked irritably.

"Yeah." Cheetahpaw mewed. "You can't lay a claw on me, you ThunderClan losers!"

Nightpaw turned on her. "Try me. I could claw you any day, with your leader and deputy here or not!" Not waiting for a response, the black she-cat turned around and followed her mentor and the other cats to the ThunderClan camp.

"I'm proud of you." Brambleclaw mewed. "You did well to keep your anger down. You could've shredded that obnoxious apprentice one-pawed, though."

"I know." Nightpaw growled, angry that she didn't fight the annoying apprentice. Cherrypaw nervously padded over to the apprentices' den, where Molepaw was waiting for her, his tail flicking. Hazeltail and Brambleclaw whisked off to the leader's den, where they would report to Firestar about the patrol.

"Hey, Nightpaw." Hawkpaw's mew sounded behind her. Nightpaw turned around to find the dark brown tabby skipping up to her. "What's up?" His amber eyes were sympathetic. Hawkpaw was a bit younger than Nightpaw, and his sister had been taken away by a fox when she was nearly a kit. Hawkpaw had been lonely, and had made friends with Snowpaw, although the tom was a medicine cat apprentice. Molepaw and Cherrypaw kept to themselves because they were annoying to every other cat.

Nightpaw shook her head and sighed. "Nothing. I almost got in a fight with some obnoxious ShadowClan apprentice, but I didn't fight her back."

"That's good." Hawkpaw mewed, his eyes glowing.

As he was talking, Snowpaw scurried over to the two apprentices, his eyes wide and ears flattened. "Hi." he mewed shakily.

"Did Jayfeather yell at you or something?" Nightpaw asked her brother, sympathy brimming in her eyes.

"Oh, you saw?" Snowpaw meowed. "Well, I just mixed up the stores a bit, I put tansy in the yarrow pile. It's nothing really, but Jayfeather was in a really bad mood so he got angry." Snowpaw's green eyes looked concerned. "He never yells at me. It's probably nothing... I have to go get some more tansy. See you later." He scurried out of camp, his eyes wide.

"Wonder what that was about." Hawkpaw muttered. "Hey, Foxleap's taking me out on a hunting patrol, you want to come? The sun's still high, and Brambleclaw looks busy..." Brambleclaw was deep in discussion with Firestar. "You can just go ask him. Even though it's newleaf the prey's still not fully out yet."

Nightpaw nodded in agreement. "Sure." she mewed to her friend and bounded off to Brambleclaw. Hawkpaw was her kin because Dovewing was his mother, Bumblestripe his father, and Lionblaze was Nightpaw's father. Technically, Hawkpaw was Nightpaw's cousin.

"Brambleclaw, can I go on a hunting patrol?" asked Nightpaw, muttering an "excuse me" before talking. Brambleclaw's eyes softened, and he nodded.

"Remember to be back for Cherrypaw and Molepaw's ceremonies!" he yowled as the black she-cat sprinted away.


	5. Chapter Three: A Dark Apprentice

"You will be known as Moleclaw, and Cherrypelt."

The ceremony was over, and Molelcaw and Cherrypelt were sitting vigil by the camp entrance. Hawkpaw stretched in the apprentice den, he and his cousins Nightpaw and Snowpaw were the only cats there as of now. Soon, the only kit of Rosepetal and Mousewhisker, Featherkit, would be in the apprentice's den.

Nightpaw's soft breathing told Hawkpaw that his friend was already asleep. Snowpaw was snoring. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to go to sleep as well.

The young cat blinked his eyes open to find himself in a forest that glowed with an eerie light. The forest smelled of trees, fungus... and a small trace of blood. What kind of a place is this? Hawkpaw wondered, venturing forward. He felt as if he was being watched, and flicked his eyes side to side.

"You're going to get lost if you wander any further." A low voice growled from behind Hawkpaw. Whirling around, Hawkpaw found himself face-to-face with an exact lookalike of him, except with ice-blue eyes.

"What is this place?" Hawkpaw meowed, his eyes wide. "And who are you?"

The cat purred. "I'm Hawkfrost, and you are in the Dark Forest."

Hawkfrost! Hawkpaw had heard nursery tales of this cat who tried to kill Firestar. Why was he meeting with him? Was Hawkfrost going to kill Hawkpaw? "What's that?" Hawkpaw managed to say.

"It's a place where the true warriors reign. In the Dark Forest, we'll train you to be the best warriors that you can be." Hawkfrost's eyes flashed. "There's a great battle coming, and we're preparing you for it. Come, meet the cats of the Dark Forest." Hawkfrost led him through trees until they reached a clearing where cats were gathered under a rock. A ginger and white she-cat was on the top of the rock, yelling orders.

"That is Mapleshade." meowed Hawkfrost. "She kind of found this place, and she's going to fade away soon... good riddance. She's bossy and mean. Try not to tread on her tail."

Hawkpaw looked around, nodding. With a pang in his belly, he recognized Ivypool and Blossomfall among the cats gathered around the rock. He also recognized Breezepelt from WindClan, Tigerheart from ShadowClan and Hollowbelly from RiverClan... all of these cats he had met at Gatherings. What were the doing here, in the Dark Forest? They were all good cats. What was Hawkpaw doing here, anyway?

"Cats of the Dark Forest!" Mapleshade yowled. "The battle is nearing. All of you gather on the Island at nightfall in two day's time. The battle will be carried out then... you will all attack your waiting Clans..."

"What does she mean?" Hawkpaw asked Hawkfrost, his eyes wide.

"We're going to battle against the Clans." murmured Hawkfrost. "You have been chosen. If you do this, you'll become the greatest warrior known. There are evil cats in ThunderClan, Hawkpaw. They are all plotting against you, and you all must defeat them before they hurt anyone. Listen to what Mapleshade says, and meet at the Island at nightfall in two day's."

"I'm so confused - " Hawkpaw mewed as the Dark Forest cats started fading.

"Just listen." Hawkfrost whispered, and darkness slammed Hawkpaw's vision.

Hawkpaw woke up to see Nightpaw's face looking over him. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked, her eyes wide. "You were panting and stuff in your sleep... Brambleclaw wants us to go on the dawn patrol together, with him."

"What about Foxleap?" Hawkpaw asked groggily, pushing himself up and shaking his pelt.

"He's not coming." Nightpaw responded. "Just the three of us. We're patrolling WindClan border."

"Okay." Hawkpaw mewed, fully awake now. "Let's go!"

The two cats bounded into the clearing where Brambleclaw was waiting. "Hi, Hawkpaw." He rumbled. "Foxleap's paw is sprained so he has to rest for today, but I'll be helping you all with your training. We're pretty much going on a double patrol today, once we patrol the WindClan border on the way back we'll be hunting, and after we're having a mock battle with all of the warriors. The whole Clan's participating... well, except the kits queens and elders.. and the medicine cats and Foxleap."

"Cool!" Hawkpaw mewed. A whole Clan battle? That sounded fun!

Nightpaw was unsheathing and sheathing her claws. "Before all of that though I'll shred some WindClan cats." Her green eyes narrowed menacingly. "They keep crossing the border because they're hunting in woodlands now... they used to be ours, too!"

"Now, Nightpaw." Brambleclaw mewed crossly. "Remember yesterday? Try not to cause any fights along the WindClan border, okay? You have a tendency to cause fights wherever you go."

Nightpaw's eyes flashed. "I'll try, Brambleclaw." She mewed. "But if one WindClan cat crosses that border I'm not making any promises!"

The three cats were about to arrive on the WindClan border when Brambleclaw hissed, "You two... get up in a tree. Now." Confused, the two apprentices scrambled up a small oak. Brambleclaw was below them, his fur bristling with rage. A white and gray apprentice, Furzepaw, streaked across the border in pursuit of a hare.

"Stop!" growled Brambleclaw, snarling at the young she-cat. Scared, the apprentice cowered against a tree. "You have trespassed on our border."

Suddenly, a black shape shot at Brambleclaw and pinned him down. Breezepelt! A voice came from across the WindClan border, and a light brown tabby emerged. "Breezepelt, stop!" she shrieked. "Furzepaw crossed the border - you don't have to fight!"

Breezepelt and Brambleclaw were locked in a knot of fur and claws, shrieking and screeching at each other. Hawkpaw turned to Nightpaw. "We have to help him!" he hissed. "You attack Breezepelt and I'll attack Furzepaw. We'll jump down from the trees on them." Nightpaw nodded. "Okay, ready? Go!"

The two cats jumped down from the trees at the cats, and Furzepaw's eyes widened in fear when she saw Hawkpaw hurling himself at her. Hawkpaw was not going easy on her - this apprentice had crossed the border! He attacked her exposed belly. Blood soon stained his paws, and the apprentice howled with agony. She tried to hit him back, but Hawkpaw moved nimbly out of the way to feel a cat bowl him over. The light brown tabby's blue eyes were in his face. "Don't you dare hurt my apprentice!" She hissed as Furzepaw ran away, howling, to the WindClan border.

Hawkpaw tried to scratch her exposed belly, but the she-cat was bigger than him... but skinnier. Narrowing his eyes, Hawkpaw rolled over, and the she-cat stumbled and fell. Not wasting a second, Hawkpaw struck at her face, and the she-cat moaned, "Please..." Hawkpaw made sure he didn't actually claw her face, just gave her a warning scratch.

Taking pity on her, Hawkpaw took a step back. "Never intrude on our border again!" he yowled as the she-cat ran away, Breezepelt following. The tom was covered in blood, but the light of battle still shone in his eyes as he spat curses at Nightpaw and Brambleclaw, who were unharmed except for some scratches.

Brambleclaw nodded to the two apprentices. "You both fought well and bravely. I had a feeling we were going to be attacked, so I wanted you too to get out of the danger, but you did very well." His eyes glowed. "A few moons from now, and you could be warriors! You sure have the hunting skills to be one, but now let's see about your hunting skills... after we get cleaned up."

With that, the three ThunderClan cats headed off to the camp, unaware they were being watched.


	6. Chapter Four: Speed of the Cheetah

"Ugh!" A grunt came from Cheetahpaw as she was cannoned into a boulder. Ferretclaw and Pinefur, now warriors, looked at her, their eyes wide.

"Did I hurt you?" Starlingpaw asked, his tail flicking uneasily. They were in the training hollow, right outside of the camp, and Pinefur and Ferretclaw had stopped by to watch.

"Yeah." Cheetahpaw puffed out, trying to get up and walking gingerly on her injured paw. "I just slammed into that boulder... should have been more careful..." Starlingpaw and Cheetahpaw were in the training hollow without a mentor, but they had asked permission before they went.

The moon hung high in the sky, but ShadowClan was most active during those hours. The dark made Cheetahpaw feel comforted and safe.

"Are you sure?" Starlingpaw's eyes were wide with concern. Ferretclaw and Pinefur scurried off, and it was just the two apprentices.

"Really, I'm okay." Cheetahpaw mewed, shaking her paw. When she placed it on the ground, it felt better.

"Do you want to go hunting?" asked Starlingpaw. "I don't think Blackstar would care that much." His tail flicked nervously. Was he that concerned that he had injured Cheetahpaw?

"Sure, I'm starving." Cheetahpaw meowed, and the two dashed into the forest. Suddenly, everything slowed down around Cheetahpaw as she ran. The trees were moving slower, and looking down, she saw that her paws were nothing but a blur. She stopped immediately, afraid of what just happened. Minutes later, Starlingpaw appeared at her side.

"Wow." he mewed, his eyes huge. "You.. you can run really fast!"

Cheetahpaw blinked. What was he talking about? She was running so slow that everything was going in slow motion... but her legs were a blur. She had always assumed every cat had run like that. "I guess that's what I'm named after." She joked lightly, remembering the forgotten CheetahClan the elders talked about. CheetahClan was driven out by the two Clans. CheetahClan had hunted on the moors, and were fast and nimble. WindClan was said to be the direct descendants of them. Moons ago, the three other Clans united against CheetahClan, jealous of their rabbit-rich territories and drove the Clan out. CheetahClan was never seen again.

Starlingpaw nodded. "Yeah!" Narrowing his eyes, he pounced and moments later emerged with a thrush. "I guess some prey's deaf to us talking." He shrugged, then fixed her with an intense gaze, dropping the thrush. "I feel as if something dark's threatening all of our Clans, you know? Littlecloud hasn't gone to the Moonpool in moons... Blackstar, well, any leader really, refuses to talk about anything at the Gatherings, and even the Clans are together then."

Cheetahpaw thought about that for a long moment. She hadn't been to any Gatherings, but she knew there was one tomorrow. He could be right, because of how tense the Clans were these days. "Yeah." she mewed. "But I've never been to a Gathering, so I wouldn't know."

Starlingpaw flicked his tail in agreement. "Well, maybe if we do some hunting you'll get to go to the Gathering tomorrow!" He mewed, his eyes gleaming with a challenge.

"I bet you I can catch more than you." Cheetahpaw mewed.

"Okay. Then let's go."

The two cats bounded out to the forest happily, unaware of the dark presence looking at them from behind.


	7. Chapter Five: A Bloody First Gathering

Nightpaw had been invited to the Gathering. Hawkpaw, Ivypool and Blossomfall had asked to go hunting before, and Firestar agreed but told them they weren't allowed to go to the Gathering. What mouse-brains! Who wants to miss a Gathering for some hunting? Nightpaw sure didn't.

That meant that Nightpaw was the only apprentice besides her brother Snowpaw. The two cats trotted beside each other, their looks like day and night. The warriors of ThunderClan were in front of them, crossing the Tree-bridge.

This was Nightpaw's first Gathering, so she didn't know how to cross the Tree-bridge. She assumed it was like climbing trees, you unsheathed your claws and made your way across. Snowpaw had been to a Gathering before, so he showed her how to do it.

"Right, this way." he mewed. "It's like climbing the Sky Oak. It's real easy."

Nightpaw hopped off of the Tree-bridge and squeezed herself through the trees and bushes, following Snowpaw. Was the Gathering really in these uncomfortable thistles? she wondered, padding forward. The light grass thinned out into a clearing, where a large tree with many branches stood. Two Clan leaders were sitting on the tree, one a thin brown tabby tom, Onestar, and the other, above him, a silver-blue she-cat, Mistystar. ShadowClan hadn't arrived yet.

Nightpaw caught a faint trace of Hawkpaw's smell, but she ignored it. Hawkpaw was busy hunting, and he wasn't even invited to the Gathering. Why would he be here?

The young apprentice saw Firestar make his way up the tree and sit next to Mistystar. The two were in a hushed conversation, looking worriedly at Onestar, who was staring ahead as if he'd seen something that spooked him. His eyes were glazed over, and for a second Nightpaw thought he was dead until he flicked an ear.

"Nightpaw, come here!" Brambleclaw called, and Nightpaw turned her head. The dark brown tabby was sitting next to a gray she-cat that Nightpaw didn't recognize. Next to her were two black cats. Breezepelt! Nightpaw's teeth bared in a snarl when she laid eyes on him, and he gazed coldly back.

"Remember, there's a truce." Brambleclaw mewed with an edge to his voice. "Ashfoot, this is Nightpaw, Lionblaze and Icecloud's kit. Her brother is the medicine cat apprentice. Nightpaw, this is Ashfoot, deputy of WindClan, and her son Crowfeather." He gestured to the gray-black tom with blue eyes. Brambleclaw glanced inquiringly at him, and he nodded. "You're related to these cats." Brambleclaw mewed lightly.

"No I'm not." Nightpaw mewed. "I'm ThunderClan and they're WindClan."

"Crowfeather is Lionblaze's father." Ashfoot mewed bluntly. "And I'm him mother. Breezepelt is Crowfeather's son."

"Oh." Nightpaw mewed, glancing down at herself. Her figure was a bit skinnier than ThunderClan cats, and she could run a bit faster, and looking at Crowfeather she realized that they kind of looked a bit alike. "Uh... nice to meet you."

Breezepelt nodded and turned his head, and Crowfeather dipped his head in greeting. "Eh.. nice to meet you too." Crowfeather mumbled, his eyes full of sadness.

Brambeclaw made a swooping motion with his tail, "Come, let's get back to ThunderClan."

The ThunderClan cats were in a huddle, and Nightpaw noticed that the other Clans were in their huddles, too. She was glad to be relieved of that awkward moment, but she wanted to meet cats from other Clans!

"Brambleclaw, why are the Clans in huddles?" Nightpaw asked. "Lionblaze always said we got to meet different cats! Didn't you, Lionblaze?" Nightpaw mewed to Lionblaze, who nodded shortly as he passed by the two.

"Times have changed." Brambleclaw mewed, keeping an eye on the ShadowClan cats that had just arrived. "I wanted to introduce you to your extended family, that's why we went to the WindClan side." He glared at Squirrelflight, who flinched.

Nightpaw looked curiously at Brambleclaw, who got on his feet again and headed towards the Big Oak. "I'm going to where the deputies sit." He explained. "The Gathering's about to start... stay with Snowpaw." Nightpaw nodded and tried to find her brother Snowpaw, but the Gathering started before then.

"The Gathering is starting." Mistystar called, her blue eyes flashing around the cats. "Blackstar, would you like to speak first? Onestar has offered to speak last."

Blackstar mewed and nodded curtly, his eyes serious and suspicious. "ShadowClan is thriving." He murmured. "We have two new warriors... Ferretclaw and Pinefur..." The other Clans greeted this with half-hearted cheers, "and a new apprentice, Cheetahpaw, who will be mentored by me."

Cheetahpaw! Nightpaw almost hissed the name aloud. That was the mangy apprentice who nearly attacked Nightpaw!

Thornclaw, the cat beside her, saw her fur bristle. His eyes softened and he mewed, "Hush... I know you might be angry, but the other Clans are staring." He gestured softly to the other Clans who were looking at Nightpaw worriedly.

Next, it was Firestar's turn to speak. "We have a new apprentice Hawkpaw, and two new warriors, Moleclaw and Cherrypelt. The prey is running well and ThunderClan is doing well." Mistystar stood up after him, and she too spoke of new warriors, Hollowbelly and Troutfur, and a new litter of kits.

Now, Onestar stepped forward. The whole crowd hushed into an eerie silence. Immediately, Nightpaw knew something wasn't right. The usually fair-minded tom had a darker gleam in his eyes. Even the leaders looked worried. The WindClan cats also looked surprised.

He surveyed the clearing, then lightly flicked his tail. Nightpaw gasped as shadows emerged from the bushes. What was happening?

"Nightpaw." Dustpelt hissed from behind her. "Get behind me... now."

"Wha ?" Nightpaw asked as Dustpelt shoved her behind him as the shapes loomed forward. Nightpaw looked back and saw the three other leader's mouths wide in shock.

"What are you playing at, Onestar?" hissed Blackstar. "Those aren't WindClan cats!"

"Who are they?" asked Mistystar.

"Onestar, you better explain this." growled Firestar, unsheathing his claws.

Onestar flicked his tail again and the dark shapes attacked, claws unsheathed, at the cats at the Gathering.


	8. Chapter Six: An Apprentice's Betrayal

Hawkpaw was told to meet at the Island before the Gathering. He had come with Ivypool and Blossomfall, other Dark Forest warriors. But he never thought he would have to fight his own Clanmates!

"You're a new apprentice." Onestar growled to him. It was soon revealed by whispers going from cat to cat that Onestar had been possessed by the cat who founded the Dark Forest, Mapleshade. "I don't expect you to fight. Go for the weaker cats... and try not to fight the strongest warriors."

Hawkpaw could do nothing but agree. He couldn't escape. If he didn't fight, Onestar - Mapleshade - said he would essentially be a traitor and that he would be killed. She mewed how this was the greatest battle, and time for the Dark Forest cats to get even with the evil cats in the Clans.

At Mapleshade's signal, Hawkpaw flung himself at the nearest apprentice - Nightpaw! Nightpaw's eyes widened with shock as she recognized him. Her eyes grew cold, and she flung him into the bushes. He scrambled up to find her standing over him. "What is this?" she asked. "Why are you attacking your own Clanmates?"

"Maple - Onestar told us to." Hawkpaw mewed feebly. "We're fighting the bad cats in the Clan so we can live peaceful lives."

"And you believed him?" Nightpaw spat. "I can't believe you, Hawkpaw! I thought you were the kindest cat in the Clans! You were my best friend." Her eyes shone with hurt. "And you betrayed me, you betrayed our whole Clan by joining Onestar. Are the WindClan cats in this?"

"No..." Hawkpaw mewed, feeling terrible at what he had done... he had just met the Dark Forest cats, yet he trusted them enough to fight for him? "Only a few..."

"You disgust me." Nightpaw snarled. "I would fight you now, and I'd crush you, but my Clanmates need help, since they were wrongly attacked at a Gathering, completely unprepared." She was about to turn around when Thornclaw burst into the clearing, wrestling a dark tabby tom, Hollowbelly. He soon beat the fat tom off, and Thornclaw's eyes sparkled when he saw Nightpaw and Hawkpaw. "Why aren't you fighting?" he growled to Hawkpaw. "Our Clan needs help."

"I - " Hawkpaw stuttered.

"Because he's a traitor!" Nightpaw growled. "He's fighting on the bad side! Onestar's apparently been recruiting cats to fight against their own Clanmates... he attacked me!"

Thornclaw's eyes widened with rage. Hawkpaw wondered why he was so angry... he hadn't even gotten angry at Nightpaw for not fighting! "Well, if that's true then his own guilt is a worse punishment than me fighting him. If I fought him, I'd be fighting a Clanmate too and that wouldn't be any better." His blue eyes softened as he looked at Nightpaw. "Come on, I won't let another cat hurt you."

The two cats stalking away, and Hawkpaw shook his head with rage at himself. Thornclaw's probably just acting as her mentor since Brambleclaw was in the thick of the fighting...

But he didn't know why a pang of jealousy stung his stomach so badly.


	9. Chapter Seven: A Leader's Death

Nightpaw shook her head, and blood spattered the ground. The Clan cats had circled the cats that had betrayed them now, and the bad cats were in a pile, some motionless and others blinking in shame.

Onestar and Breezepelt were the only cats that remained standing. At the flick of Firestar's tail, the Clan cats surged forward and pinned them to the ground. Nightpaw and the other apprentices were told to stay out of the way.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" snarled Blackstar, his amber eyes flashing at the cats that had betrayed their Clans. "Why did you do something like this?"

A tabby RiverClan warrior limped forward. "Tigerstar and Hawkfrost promised us we'd be great warriors." she mewed sadly, her eyes dull. "They told us to meet with the others a few hours before the Gathering, and that an important training session would be held there... so we went."

"Why would you believe the Clan's biggest traitors?" Mistystar asked, her voice gentle but ashamed. "Why would you trust them?"

"They said we'd be the greatest warriors in all of the Clans." rasped Tigerheart. "They said if we just killed the leaders, who they said were possessed and trying to attack the Clans, we'd be heroes. We wanted what was best for our Clans."

Hollowbelly stepped forward. "And one leader is possessed." he mewed. "Onestar has been taken over by Mapleshade and Tigerstar. That is why he's acting strangely." He hung his head. "We're sorry for our actions."

"If you choose to exile us, we understand." Tigerheart mewed, his battered tail drooping.

"Well I'm not sorry!" exclaimed Breezepelt from under Brambleclaw's claws. "You soft bunch might be, but I'd fight to the death to kill my half-brothers, and my father. They've brought me up in a lie." His eyes glared at Crowfeather, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather. "I want you all dead!" He yowled. "Like the filth you are!" None of the toms flinched, but Lionblaze's eyes blazed. Nightpaw's father seemed to be virtually unharmed.

"This isn't over!" Onestar snarled. Firestar was holding him down. "Dark Forest, possess these traitors!"

At once, the cats that had fought against their Clanmates fell to the ground, writhing in pain. Their eyes were glazed, and mouths wide open in a silent scream. Then, they sprang up, their injuries long forgotten. Their eyes took on a strange, evil quality that even Nightpaw couldn't place. She shrank against Thornclaw. "What's happening?" she asked him.

"I don't know." he whispered. "But I don't think it's good."

The Dark Forest cats prowled toward the cats, hissing and spitting when one tried to step forward. "Stay back." They seemed to say.

The cats left in the clearing were Firestar, Onestar, Brambleclaw, and Breezepelt. "I'll kill you now!" Onestar, or Tigerstar, hissed. "It'll feel good to finally kill you!"

"Killing the ThunderClan deputy will be easy." Breezepelt snarled, freeing himself from Brambleclaw's grasp. "You're so soft there's nothing to it."

At once, the cats started circling each other. Brambleclaw flung himself at Breezepelt, who nimbly dodged out of the way and bite Brambleclaw's shoulder down hard. As if signaling something, the Clans flung themselves at the Dark Forest warriors, who immediately were outnumbered again. They fought courageously, but in a matter of moments the Clans had overtaken them, and the cats slumped to the ground, the Dark Forest spirits leaving them.

"No!"

Nightpaw turned to look at what was happening. Brambleclaw was yowling at his leader, who was bleeding severely from a gash in his neck. Breezepelt was clawed up, twitching on the ground, while Onestar was motionless on the ground, panting heavily. It seemed as if Tigerstar and Mapleshade's spirits had left him.

"Someone - Jayfeather - get the herbs!" Brambleclaw was also bleeding heavily from his wounds, and he stumbled. Jayfeather bounded over, but shook his head at Brambleclaw. "He's loosing a life." Jayfeather mewed softly. "Perhaps StarClan can heal his wound."

Brambleclaw sunk to the ground, his breathing slowing. A mass of cats gathered in front of Nightpaw. She tried to see what was happening, but the clearing remained silent as voices echoed all around the cats.

"Brambleclaw, no!" That was Squirrelflight's voice. "Jayfeather, please get him some herbs! He's not... oh, StarClan, no!" A yowl of grief came from the watching cats. Nightpaw shouldered forward and found that her mentor's eyes were glazed over, and he was still.

"He's dead." Littlecloud mewed hollowly. Nightpaw let out a wail of grief and buried her nose in her dead mentor's cold fur. She lifted her head up to glare at Breezepelt. "You did this!" she yowled. "You killed my mentor! I can't believe I'm related to you, you filthy traitor!"

But Nightpaw couldn't hear Breezpelt's reply, because it was cut off by the excited murmur of cats. "Firestar's awake!" they gasped.

Sure enough, the great leader's eyes were back to normal. "Jayfeather, come here." he rasped. "I'm about to die, and I know it. I've just seen StarClan, and there is a greater destiny than the Three." His voice was close to a whisper. Nightpaw could only hear it because she was grieving for Brambleclaw. "There are two more for which you to seek, with powers just like yours." Powers? What was Firestar talking about? Nightpaw pricked her ears. "One is in another Clan, but the daughter of Dovewing. One is the child of Lionblaze." Nightpaw felt as if her stomach exploded. Snowpaw? Did he have some sort of power? "Four will become five as if it was in the ancient times. Keep that in mind."

"Who will be our successor, for ThunderClan?" Jayfeather rasped.

"Lionblaze." Firestar mewed. Louder, he announced in a raspy mew, "Lionblaze will be the new leader of ThunderClan." And with a twitch of his tail, the leader's eyes glazed again and his breathing stopped.


	10. Chapter Eight: The Surprise

Pale light seeped into the apprentice's den. Dawn was approaching, and the sun was slowly rising in the sky. The camp was silent, and the young apprentice couldn't even hear the patrols being sorted out.

She flicked her ear irritably. She was half-asleep, and even she could tell something was wrong. The dappled golden she-cat woke up immediately, bounding out into the camp when she was finished stretching.

It was deserted. Cheetahpaw panicked. At dawn, the ShadowClan camp at least had Rowanclaw in the center, sending cats out in patrol. She didn't want to wake the warriors, but she had no choice.

Cheetahpaw padded softly into the warrior's den. A few warriors were there, but she noticed that none of the cats who had gone to the Gathering, or hunting before the Gathering, were there. She prodded Tawnypelt lightly with her paw. "Tawnypelt." she hissed softly.

The tortoishell's eyes flew open at once. "Cheetahpaw? What are you doing here?" The she-cat blinked. "It's dawn! I needed my sleep." Her eyes were soft, but her hiss was harsh.

"I'm just worried." Cheetahpaw mewed. "None of the cats who went to the Gathering have come back, or the cats that went hunting before. The Gathering cats should at least be here by moonhigh, right? Gatherings don't last that long."

Tawnypelt narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You're right." She meowed, getting out of her nest. "At least the hunting patrol should be back. Something's definitely going on out there, and I don't think it's good. I'll wake up Crowfrost and Smokefoot... oh, Oakfur's here too. Go wait by the entrance in case they come back, although I don't think they will..." Her voice trailed off, and Cheetahpaw backed out of the warrior's den. It would be embarrassing and awkward if she was wrong and the patrols did return, but like Tawnypelt, she doubted it would happen.

As Cheetahpaw watched the sun climb, the four warriors rushed out of of the warrior's den. "Tawnypelt told us." Oakfur, the senior warrior, explained. "It's not a good thing if they're not back yet, especially the hunting patrol we sent out at twilight."

"Let's go." Smokefoot mewed. "But first... where are we going?"

Crowfrost growled. "The Island, to start." he mewed. "If they're not there, then ThunderClan probably captured them, the dirty crowfood eaters!"

Tawnypelt shook her head. "Firestar doesn't capture cats." She mewed. "I have a feeling in my gut that they're by that Island."

Oakfur nodded at his former apprentice, and the four cats bounded out of the camp. They made their way through the trees and the marshes of their territory, and finally reached RiverClan territory. Cheetahpaw had tried to maintain her speed, and she hadn't felt that weird feeling of slow-motion again. Strangely enough, she wasn't tired either, unlike her Clanmates, who were panting heavily.

"Keep going." Oakfur gasped. "We'll make it, just ease off a bit..." The cats ran at a slower pace to the Island, where moans and wails were echoing. The ShadowClan cats exchanged glances.

"Something terrible has happened." murmured Smokefoot.

Crowfrost nodded. "I bet it has something to do with ThunderClan!"

"Stop obsessing over ThunderClan, will you?" growled Oakfur. "We all know you've been mooning over Russetfur before she died, but you have to calm down!"

Crowfrost flinched, but didn't reply.

The ShadowClan cats made their way onto the Tree bridge and through the grass and bushes surrounding the clearing. As they arrived, they found the grass spattered with blood, a pile of motionless cats, and cats crowded around something.

"Blackstar!" yowled Tawnypelt, which made the wails silent. A distraught and bloody tom stepped out from the crowd, his eyes hollow with loss.

"You've come." he whispered. "Too late, unfortunately. You must have noticed our absence." He waved his tail to the gathering cats. "Firestar is dead." he murmured. "Brambleclaw, too."

At once, Tawnypelt let out a wail and bounded through the crowd. Cheetahpaw bowed her head. Brambleclaw was her kin, and she was sad that he was dead. Firestar was a noble leader, every cat knew that, and Cheetahpaw felt strangely affected by his death.

"Who killed them?" rasped Oakfur, his eyes pools of sadness.

"The Dark Forest attacked." Blackstar mewed, his voice shaking with rage. "They are like a hell of StarClan, run by Tigerstar and a she-cat named Mapleshade. The Dark Forest possessed Onestar, and the cats who were visiting the Dark Forest in their sleep went hunting before the Gathering to meet them here." Cheetahpaw's heart plummeted. Her father, Tigerheart, and her mother, Applefur, had asked to go hunting before the Gathering! "They attacked at Onestar - er, Tigerstar's - signal. We put them in this pile to explain themselves... and a terrible thing happened. The Dark Forest spirits possessed them, and Onestar and Breezepelt attacked Brambleclaw and Firestar with moves I didn't even know existed. They made quick work, but we beat the Dark Forest cats once again." His voice rung with pride at those last words. "We are grieving for Firestar."

"What about the traitors?" asked Smokefoot. "Will they be punished?"

Blackstar shrugged. "Nothing will ever be the same." he promised. "We don't know if they were manipulated or not, but ShadowClan's heading back to camp now... Not all of us, I'm sorry."

Crowfrost mewed, "Who died?"

Rowanclaw padded out from the crowd. "Tallpoppy and Cedarheart." He mewed. "Snowbird... and Littlecloud is severely injured. I don't think he'll make it, but Mothwing is trying to save him."

Oakfur wailed. Snowbird had been his mate. "All has been lost!" he growled. "Our Clanmates have betrayed us!"

"All has not been lost." rasped Cheetahpaw, raising her head. "StarClan is still here. We have still won. The Clans will survive, I know it!"


	11. Chapter Nine: Nightpaw's Name

It was three sunrises after the Dark Forest battle. Hawkpaw, along with Ivypool and Blossomfall, was no longer trusted by his Clanmates. ThunderClan had suffered losses, the major ones Brambleclaw and Firestar, but others included Spiderleg, Millie and Berrynose.

Some cats had suggested that ThunderClan had killed the cats that had betrayed them. Lionstar, the newest ThunderClan leader, had not allowed that. "They were manipulated." he explained. "I admit to training in the Dark Forest myself, but I left. Tigerstar has a way of manipulating cats, and these cats were his victims."

The Clan had agreed, but most cats still wouldn't talk to Hawkpaw, although Nightpaw was beginning to talk to him. The apprentice had become closer with Thornclaw ever since Brambleclaw died, and Thornclaw was ThunderClan's new deputy as well as Nightpaw's new mentor. Nightpaw was supposed to be made a warrior today though, so Thornclaw had only taught her a few things.

Hawkpaw woke up at sunrise. He stretched, and closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun on his fur. The Clan was gathered around the Highledge, and Hawkpaw guessed it was time for Nightpaw's ceremony. He padded out, and saw that Lionstar was at the bottom of the Highledge, looking fondly at Nightpaw, his daughter.

"... promise to uphold the warrior code, even at the cost of your life?" Oh, no... Hawkpaw thought. He missed most of the ceremony! He squirmed beside Blossomfall, who seemed to be his only friend now.

"I do." Nightpaw's high voice echoed among the camp.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Nightpaw, you are now to be known as Nightfrost..."

The rest of Lionstar's words were drowned out by cheering. "Nightfrost, Nightfrost!" The young warrior had been popular amongst her Clanmates, and she now held power in the Clan that her father was the leader of the Clan.

Hawkpaw padded up to press around Nightfrost, and a pang of jealousy shook him as he saw Thornclaw got there first, congratulating his apprentice. "I'm so proud of you, Nightfrost!" he mewed. _It's just because he was her mentor... that's all. Aren't mentors close with their apprentices, anyway?_

After a few moments, the ceremony ended. "You're not supposed to talk when nightfall comes." Hawkpaw heard Thornclaw explain to his former apprentice. "But you can talk until then." A note of happiness crept into the young tom's voice.

"I wonder if becoming a warrior's made my hunting skills any sharper?" Nightfrost inquired playfully. "Hey, Hawkpaw, want to come hunting with us?"

"Yeah." Thornclaw called. "Rosepetal's still sleeping, and she's probably going to go hunting with Mousewhisker after." Spiderleg had died, so Rosepetal was Hawkpaw's new mentor. Rosepetal was nice and fair, but Hawkpaw missed his old mentor. Plus, all Rosepetal did was moon over Mousewhisker and seemed unfocused during training.

Hawkpaw turned around. "Sure." he mewed. It was a big step that he was going hunting with Nightfrost, it showed that maybe she trusted him, after all, her father had trained in the Dark Forest as well. And Hawkpaw had only visited the Dark Forest twice!

"Okay." Nightfrost mewed. "Then you better catch up!" The she-cat flicked Thornclaw's paws with her tail, and the two bounded out of the camp. Hawkpaw reluctantly followed. What was up with those two? It was like they were best friends, better than Hawkpaw and Nightfrost had ever been.

Hawkpaw met with the two cats outside of the camp by the training hollow. "Hey, Hawkpaw." Thornclaw mewed. "How about I assess you? Maybe you can hunt by the WindClan border, and Nightfrost, you can hunt by the lake. Let's see which brings back more prey." His eyes gleamed.

"Oh, yes!" Hawkpaw mewed, bouncing on his paws. He was far away from being a warrior, he had begun his training two moons ago, but being assessed - that was big!

"Okay... ready... go!" Thornclaw yowled. Nightfrost ran in one direction, Hawkpaw in the other. Thornclaw stayed still, watching him disappear into the undergrowth, and Hawkpaw stopped. What if he followed Thornclaw instead? That would be more fun.

Creeping through the undergrowth, Hawkpaw saw Thornclaw's golden tail disappear behind the undergrowth by where Nightfrost had ran. Hawkpaw skillfully climbed a tree, and saw the golden tabby warrior hop into a patch of undergrowth. Hawkpaw jumped to the tree above the patch, but he lost where Thornclaw was. Fox dung!


	12. Chapter Ten: The Dreaded Tunnels

The tunnels were more clear because it was sunrise. A calm river ran under an opening, where the sun shone through. Pawprints dotted the shores, and ledges ran alongside of the walls.

"I found this place." Nightfrost mewed, her green eyes sparkling. "It's great, isn't it? When I was an apprentice, I taught myself how to swim in these waters." She waved her tail at the flowing river. "How did you get rid of Hawkpaw, anyway? And why didn't you want him to see the tunnels, too?"

Thornclaw shrugged, trying to look nonchalant but Nightfrost could see he was drinking in the scene with his eyes. "I just thought it'd be nice for you and me to check these tunnels out first, just to see if they were safe." His blue eyes glanced at her. "It's not safe for an apprentice to be down here... and it looks like cats are living here, too, unless those are your pawprints."

Nightfrost shook her black head. "They aren't." she mewed. "Those are fresh, and I haven't been down here in a quarter-moon. I never really noticed them before, but I did think I saw eyes watching me sometimes, or felt like I was being watched."

Thornclaw nodded slowly, then padded over to the water and dabbed his paw experimentally in it. "You say you can swim?" He asked.

Nightfrost hopped on one of the lower ledges over the river. "Yes, and the river's deep enough that you can jump off from this ledge down into the water! It's really fun!"

"You might get hurt." mewed Thornclaw nervously, looking up at her with his clear blue eyes. "You've just become a warrior, I don't want you to kill yourself on your first day as a warrior!"

"Oh, I won't. Stop worrying!" Nightfrost yowled, and prepared herself to leap, bunching her muscles.

But a small squeak stopped her from jumped.

"Thornclaw?" Nightfrost mewed, not looking down. "Stop squealing like a kit, honestly, I'm fine."

Two more squeaks.

"Um, Nightfrost." Thornclaw mewed. "You might want to come down here, there's some..."

"My kits!" a voice echoed through the tunnels. Thornclaw stiffened. "It can't be." he rasped, his eyes wide.

"They're fine." mewed a calm, cool voice. "I'm sure they're just exploring."

"But there are other cats here!" wailed the voice. "What if they're ThunderClan, or WindClan?"

Nightfrost leaped down, almost bowling over Thornclaw, and stiffened next to him. "Do you know who these kits are?" she hissed, glancing at the kits.

Two were tortoishell she-kits, and the other a jet-black tom with amber eyes. The tom stepped forward. "You smell like forest!" he squeaked. "Do you know where my mom is? Or my pa?"

"Have you ever heard of Sol?" Thornclaw whispered. "Or Hollyleaf? She's your kin, but Sol..." He shook his head. "I never would have thought..."

A jet-black she-cat that resembled Nightfrost a bit stepped out of the shadows, her green eyes wide. "Thornclaw!" she mewed. "What are you doing here? And who's this? A WindClan cat?" she sneered.

"You're supposed to be dead!" Thornclaw gasped. "What happened?"

Nightfrost shrank against Thornclaw, not knowing what was wrong.

"I survived when the tunnels collapsed." The black she-cat mewed coolly. "And I see you've met my kits... Slate, Moss, and Rock, get back here, inow/i." Her kits glanced back at Thornclaw and Nightfrost, and bounded towards their mother, hiding behind her legs.

"Are they Sol's?" Thornclaw mewed quietly.

The she-cat nodded. "Who's this?" She repeated, looking at Nightfrost. "Is she ShadowClan, maybe? RiverClan, if not WindClan?"

"She's ThunderClan's newest warrior." mewed Thornclaw. "Nightfrost, why don't you introduce yourself to Hollyleaf, your aunt."

"My... aunt?" Nightfrost mewed, taking a step forward. Hollyleaf's eyes widened, and the two looked each other down. Hollyleaf had a longer pelt than Nightfrost, and Nightfrost had a white splash on her chest, and white ears and a white tailtip, but otherwise the two she-cats looked almost alike. "I... I'm Nightfrost... Lionblaze and Icecloud's daughter."

"Lionblaze." whispered Hollyleaf. "My brother. Is Jayfeather okay?" She asked, her green eyes wide. Nightfrost nodded.

"I live in these tunnels now, with Sol." Hollyleaf murmured. "I did some things in ThunderClan that I'm not proud of... and I've seen you swimming here sometimes... I know these tunnels very well. There's some fish in the stream... I learned how to fish... and then I met Sol. We had kits together, and we're happy down here." She smiled weakly. "How's Firestar?"

Nightfrost exchanged a glance with Thornclaw. "Um... I meant Lionstar's my father. Firestar's dead, and so is Brambleclaw. The Dark Forest started a huge battle at the Gathering, and Breezepelt killed Brambleclaw. Onestar was possessed, so he killed Firestar."

"My brother... a leader?" Hollyleaf's eyes flashed. "But he's invincible! Oh, I hope he sticks to the warrior code. I've already taught my kits about it." She mewed fondly.

"Are you coming back to ThunderClan, Hollyleaf?" asked Thornclaw awkwardly.

"Oh, no." Hollyleaf mewed. "I'm very happy here with Sol. They all think I'm dead anyway." She snorted. "I like life down here. In ThunderClan, my Sol would never belong." She looked back at the tunnels with a disgusting, gushy look that made Nightfrost want to cringe. "Well, I better be off now. And I don't expect either of you to tell anyone that I'm still alive."

"Especially Leafpool, Lionstar, or Jayfeather. And Squirrelflight, too."


	13. Chapter Eleven: Escape from ThunderClan

Hawkpaw had never felt so betrayed in his life.

He had waited until twilight, and still, Nightfrost and Thornclaw had not returned. Did they ditch him?

_Where did they go? I tried following them, but I couldn't find them anywhere! _He had returned to ThunderClan with a sparrow, two squirrels, and a mouse. The senior warriors were very proud of him, and Rosepetal allowed him to eat. Hawkpaw went to sleep soon afterwards, still wondering when Nightfrost would return.

He had a peaceful sleep, and no Dark Forest warriors visited him. It was strange; ever since the battle the Dark Forest had been avoiding Hawkpaw and the Clans altogether. It was almost like the Dark Forest's spirits had vanished when the Clan cats laid claws on them.

Hawkpaw blinked open his eyes to watery sunlight streaming through his den. Snowpaw was snoring softly beside him, and the dark tabby stretched, closed his eyes, and yawned. Obviously, Rosepetal didn't have any training for him to do or she would have woken him up. Maybe she was still grieving for her lost father and half-brother, Berrynose.

Snowpaw opened one eye and glared at Hawkpaw, and went back to sleep. Hawkpaw peeked out of the apprentice's den, and saw Hazeltail, Sorreltail and Dustpelt all baring their teeth at him. Hawkpaw shrank back into his nest. He didn't understand what he did wrong. Summoning up the courage, Hawkpaw made his way carefully out into the clearing.

Bumblestripe, Hawkpaw's father, nodded to Hawkpaw as the young apprentice padded out of the apprentice's den. "Hey, Hawkpaw." He meowed. "Rosepetal's still really sad about Spiderleg, so she asked me to teach you some fighting moves today."

Hawkpaw nodded eagerly. Bumblestripe was fair, and supported him when Hawkpaw's Clan stopped trusting him. Bumblestripe was a good father. The two toms trotted out of the camp together by the training hollow. Bumblestripe stopped him, and looked at his son in the eye.

"I know this might not be the time, but I just want to say I'm a bit disappointed in your actions, like meeting with the Dark Forest. I know Blossomfall has, too... which makes it even worse, but I'm really disappointed that you both weren't strong enough." he mewed. "And... can you apologize to the Clan or something? No cat is talking to Dovewing, me... well, anyone, really. It would make life easier for both of us." Bumblestripe explained.

Hawkpaw's anger flared up immediately. Why did every cat hate him for a stupid mistake he did? He already _said_ sorry, and all Dovewing and Bumblestripe were doing was thinking about themselves!

"No!" Hawkpaw growled. "It's just for you. It's not my problem no cat's talking to you, because in case you haven't noticed, no cat's talking or even looking at me, either! I'm sick of this stupid Clan, where they can't accept a sorry and forgive and forget! I'm sick of losing my best friends! I'm sick of cats like _you_, who think I'm such a bad cat for training in the Dark Forest for not even two nights!" He snarled, turning on his tail and running away. He ran through ThunderClan territory, and through the hills of WindClan. He ran to the woodlands that were above RiverClan and WindClan territory, and by the time he got there, it was nightfall.

Hawkpaw was too sick and tired to hunt, so he fell asleep on an empty stomach. _No one in ThunderClan cares if I'm gone. They're probably happy, having one less traitor. I've never belonged in that stupid Clan anyway._ He climbed up a tree and looked at the view. He could see all of the territories and the lake from here, and wanted no part of any of it. He decided he had to get as far away from the Clans as possible.

He traveled among the trees, daydreaming of the happier times in his Clan. When Spiderleg congratulated him on his first mouse, when Cloudtail taught him some hunting moves... "You catch on easily." the white warrior meowed proudly... He shook his head, trying to clear away the memories.

_They treat you like fox dung now, so what's the point?_ He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost crashed into the cat balancing on the branch in front of him.

"Hey!" the she-cat mewed indignantly. "Watch where you're going!" She was a mottled brown she-cat, about the same age as him, which pretty blue eyes. She yowled, "Intruder!" And launched herself at Hawkpaw. Hawkpaw nimbly got out of the way, and grabbed her scruff before she fell off of the branch to her death. She glared up at him, spitting.

"I'll shred you!" she spat. A voice softly calling, "Branchpaw." Made her stop spitting. "Leafstar?" The cat named Branchpaw called out. "I've found an intruder, but he kind of saved me when I attacked him."

Leafstar? Branchpaw? Were these _Clan_ cats?

A brown and cream tabby she-cat with glowing amber eyes padded out from behind the undergrowth, a large herd of cats streaming after her. By her commanding look, Hawkpaw guessed this was Leafstar.

"This isn't our official territory yet, so he's technically not an intruder." pointed out a dark ginger tabby tom. He glanced up at Hawkpaw. "Can you please put our apprentice down and tell us your name?"

Hawkpaw dropped Branchpaw lightly on a branch, and the she-cat hopped down the branch and landed unharmed. Hawkpaw was impressed. "I'm Hawkpaw." He mewed. "Former apprentice of ThunderClan."

"ThunderClan!" Leafstar exclaimed, her eyes wide. "That means the Clans are close to here, right?" She looked up at Hawkpaw. "Come down, young apprentice. We won't hurt you, we just want to know about your Clan. Firestar and Sandstorm rebuilt our Clan, SkyClan, after the other Clans drove us out moons ago when Twolegs took our territory. Well, they took it again, so we were forced to move. We found a loner named Ravenpaw who directed us in the way the Clans moved after their forest had been destroyed. We were looking for the Clans."

A skinny black tom stepped out of the pack and nodded to Hawkpaw. "I'm Ravenpaw." He mewed. "Barley died, so I decided to tag on with SkyClan. I miss Firestar."

"They're that way." Hawkpaw mewed after making his way down the tree. "I ran away because I wasn't being treated right. There was a huge battle, and an evil cat killed Firestar... but Sandstorm's still alive. I can take you there, but I don't want to join ThunderClan ever again."

Ravenpaw let out a low wail and looked up to the sky. Hawkpaw felt a flash of pity for him, and he remembered all of the nursery stories Dovewing had told him about Ravenpaw.

But ginger tabby looked interested. "You have some fighting skill, right?" He mewed, looking at Leafstar. "Maybe, after you show us the Clan's new territories, you may fit in at SkyClan."

SkyClan? Hawkpaw wasn't sure if he even wanted to leave ThunderClan. He was a bit homesick. "Okay." he mewed finally. "I'll show you the way."


	14. Chapter Twelve: A Few Awkward Moments

**Warning: There is some rated M stuff in here, but it's not major. It's like a few sentences, lol. But I warned you ;D I put it in( ) so you can skim over it, it's nothing that bad lol.**

Cheetahpaw sighed, and flicked her tail. The leaf she was laying next to flew into the air again and spiraled softly down. Cheetahpaw thumped her tail against the ground again, and the leaf twirled in the air again. She repeated this until Starlingpaw padded out of the apprentice's den.

"Hi." He mewed, sitting next to her. "Why the sad face?"

What wasn't there to be sad about? Cheetahpaw thought. Her mom died in the battle, her father was no longer trusted, and she had pretty much lost her Clanmates' trust, too. Every cat looked at her with suspicion. "I feel like I'm not trusted anymore." she sighed. The camp was empty, besides the queens and the elders. Since Ferretclaw, Applefur, Snowbird and Ivytail died, the apprentices' training was being sped up and more duties had to be done.

"I trust you." Starlingpaw mewed helpfully.

Cheetahpaw glanced up at him. His green eyes were full of happiness and optimism. Didn't he care that his mother, Ivytail died? Or that ShadowClan was torn to pieces by their Clanmates' betrayal? No cat would talk to - or even look at - Redwillow, Tigerheart or Ratscar. "Sometimes that's not enough. I feel like I have to prove to my Clanmates time and time again that I'm not a traitor. My whole family is... Hawkfrost, Tigerstar and now Tigerheart. My mother's dead, and she was training in the Dark Forest too."

"Life goes on." whispered Starlingpaw. "Applefur wasn't a bad cat. Maybe she's even watching you from StarClan now! My mom's dead, too, but I'm keeping my head held high. Listen, just train your hardest and be the best you can be, and then every cat will know that you're different from your ancestors. Cheetahpaw, I know you're nothing like them. Doesn't that count?"

"More than you think it does." mewed Cheetahpaw, standing up. "Thanks for the pep talk, anyway, though." A half-moon had passed since the battle, and Starlingpaw was almost as tall as the other warriors. Now, he was beginning to grow his muscles and start growing into his bigger frame. Cheetahpaw was more lean and swift, and she knew she wouldn't grow anymore. Starlingpaw was only a half-moon older than Cheetahpaw, and because ShadowClan was speeding up their warrior training, the two would be made warriors in one or two moons, even though they had started their training about a moon ago.

"You're welcome." Starlingpaw meowed, standing up has well. The tom's voice had taken on a deeper quality, and it wasn't squeaky and soft anymore. It sounded determined and brave. The moon was rising, and Starlingpaw glanced up at it. "We should probably be hunting." He murmured. "Want to go hunting together?"

Cheetahpaw agreed, and the two bounded into the forest, and slowed their pace as they left the camp. Their pelts brushed, and suddenly, Starlingpaw crouched down, his eyes narrowed with disgust. **(**"Ugh! Honestly, Tawnypelt and Rowanclaw need to be quieter. I can hear them from here!"

Sure enough, Cheetahpaw could hear Rowanclaw and Tawnypelt's yowls from the bushes not far away. She scrunched up her nose. "They should really do that somewhere else."

Starlingpaw shrugged. "Elders these days." He mewed, sighing. "Doing that in the middle of the forest! Huh, they're not unlike Russetfur and Blackstar. Now, I heard stories about them from Pinefur..."

Cheetahpaw didn't hear the rest of what he was saying, because she spotted a mouse not far away from Rowanclaw and Tawnypelt's bush. She kept to the shadows, and when she was at a far enough distance she leaped, catching the mouse in her jaws. She didn't notice the root jutting out, and tripped over it and flew over the bushes to where Tawnypelt and Rowanclaw were.

They were in the middle of mating, and they stopped when they saw Cheetahpaw cannoning straight at them. Cheetahpaw crashed into Rowanclaw, and the tom yowled in agony as Cheetahpaw fell on top of him. The apprentice still had the mouse in her jaws, and she scrambled off of Rowanclaw as soon as she became less dizzy. **)**

"Er - sorry." She mewed, her voice muffled through the mouse's fur. "Well, just forget I ever came here, and uh... continue with what you two were uh, doing." She bounded out of the bushes, and dropped her mouse at Starlingpaw's feet, who was craning his neck to watch what had just happened.

"That was _great_!" Starlingpaw mewed. "Absolutely hilarious. I saw the whole thing, and it must have been really awkward, but it was really funny."

Cheetahpaw snorted, unable to hide that she too thought it was funny. "Yeah." she mewed. "Well, maybe it will teach them a lesson or something. Can we stay away from this part of the woods, just in case I make a mistake like that again?"

"Yeah." Starlingpaw snickered. "Let's go."

The two returned to camp with a good amount of prey, and their eyes gleamed with amusement as they saw Rowanclaw and Tawnypelt glanced at them, their tails flicking awkwardly. Cheetahpaw placed her prey on the pile, and chose a finch for her nighttime meal. Starlingpaw chose a mouse, and the two crouched together by the apprentice's den.

"Flamekit and Honeykit are going to be apprentices tomorrow." Starlingpaw mewed. Flamekit was a dark ginger tabby tom, and Honeykit was a light golden tabby she-cat. They were calm kits, the kits of Dawnpelt and Smokefoot.

Cheetahpaw nodded. "I wonder who they're mentors'll be."

Starlingpaw shrugged. "I dunno. It's not going to be us, since we aren't even warriors yet." His eyes shone with good humor.

Cheetahpaw munched on her finch thoughtfully. "What do you want your warrior name to be?" She asked.

"Hmm." mewed Starlingpaw. "Well, I'd really like a name every cat would remember me by, you know? Maybe Starlingfang, but that's a mouthful."

"What about Starlingclaw?" murmured Cheetahpaw. "That sounds nice and tough to me. A starling with claws."

"Shut up. It's not my fault Ivytail gave me the most she-catty name _ever_. I was an only kit, and she wanted a she-cat. Too bad she didn't get one. I wish my name was something tough, like Sharpclaw or something." He looked thoughtful. "What are some other tough names? Tigerclaw - oh, wait." He looked down awkwardly. "Ahh.. Lionclaw's a tough name! But my pelt's ginger, so..."

"Redclaw?" suggested Cheetahpaw. Starlingpaw nodded, but shrugged again.

"It's not really tough! Like Foxclaw, that's tough. So is Badgerclaw... or, ohh! Foxfang!"

"Suits you perfectly." Cheetahpaw mewed, snorting with laughter.

"Well, I think your name should be something pretty and graceful, like Cheetahflower. Or, Cheetahfeather. Something soft."

"Are you saying I'm soft?" Cheetahpaw growled, her eyes lit up with amusement.

"Yeah, I am." Starlingpaw mewed. "You going to do something about it, Softpaw? That's your new nickname."

"Then yours is going to be Brightflower." Cheetahpaw hissed, lunging at him in a mock-fight. The two tussled until Starlingpaw pinned her down.

"Really? You still want to call me Brightflower?" He crowed, his eyes glowing with triumph.

"No, maybe I'll call you Fatface because you're so fat." Cheetahpaw retorted, rolling over on top of him and lightly cuffing his face with her sheathed paws. "You can only pin me down because of your weight, not your skill."

**(**"I've got more skill than you, Softpaw." growled Starlingpaw, pinning her down again. He tried to nip her heel, but Cheetahpaw squirmed her leg away and he nipped the inside of her hind leg. Cheetahpaw stopped squirming and stared up at Starlingpaw, who glanced at the place he nipped her, and Starlingpaw let her go. **)**

"Sorry, Cheetahpaw." he muttered. "That was a mistake."

"I know." she mewed. "I moved my leg, and..." She took a breath. "I just need some fresh air, okay?"

"Okay." murmured Starlingpaw, watching her leave the camp.

_That was so awkward_. Cheetahpaw thought, padding up to the lake. Pale streaks of dawn lightened up the sky, and the stars of Silverpelt were starting to fade. She looked at her reflection in the lake, at her mottled golden tabby fur, with darker speckles lining her face. She raised a paw, and so did the reflection of herself.

Cheetahpaw was unaware a shape was two fox lengths away from her, watching her. The shape blinked its amber eyes and padded towards her. Cheetahpaw glanced over and gasped. The cat's tail slid over her mouth.

"I'm not going to hurt you." It whispered innocently. "I'm three tail-lengths from the lake, right? So I'm allowed to be here."

"Who are you?" Cheetahpaw meowed through a clump of fur.

The shape stepped out of the shadows. A lean, black tom with warm amber eyes and small paws was the shape. Cheetahpaw almost fainted... this was the cat who had killed the ThunderClan deputy!

_Breezepelt!_


	15. Chapter Thirteen: Confessions

Nightfrost woke up to find the camp in chaos. Cats were swarming everywhere, and it wasn't even sunhigh yet. The black she-cat padded Thornclaw, who was sleeping beside her. The two had returned from the tunnels by twilight, and had assumed Hawkpaw was still hunting. Nightfrost had her vigil, and then fell asleep, finding herself a comfy den in the middle next to Thornclaw. At first, the younger warriors eyed her enviously, but when Thornclaw bared his teeth they didn't argue.

"Something's wrong!" she hissed into her friend's ear. Immediately, Thornclaw sprang out of his nest to calm his Clan. Lionstar had allowed him to sleep late because he went midnight hunting, and Lionstar had told his deputy that he would organize the patrols.

"Wha - ?" mewed Thornclaw, rushing out into the camp, Nightfrost following. Cats were running everywhere, and they seemed to be looking for something. Dovewing was being comforted by Bumblestripe, who looked extremely guilty. Nightfrost couldn't find Lionstar anywhere.

"Stop!" yowled Thornclaw. At once, the Clan stopped and looked up at their deputy. "What is happening, and where is Lionstar?" Thornclaw meowed loudly.

Brackenfur stepped forward. "Hawkpaw... he's missing. He ran off, Bumblestripe says that he saw him but Hawkpaw wouldn't listen to him. Lionstar, Dustpelt and Graystripe have gone on a patrol to scout him out."

Nightfrost and Thornclaw exchanged a guilty glance. This was all their fault! If they hadn't ditched Hawkpaw, then maybe he wouldn't have run away. Nightfrost cringed as guilt gnawed at her belly.

"Then why are you all looking for him if he's run away?" asked Thornclaw. "Obviously, he's somewhere out in the forest. I last sent him out hunting, but didn't see him anywhere. Bumblestripe, what do you know of your son's whereabouts?"

Bumblestripe looked sad. "I - I had a talk with him about the Dark Forest thing... but - but he got angry and upset, and ran away. He ran over by WindClan, but I - I thought he was heading for the lake or something. I didn't stop him. It's all my fault."

"When did you talk to him?" Thornclaw pressed.

"Um... well, he came back to camp at around sunhigh, in the afternoon... and then he ran away." Bumblestripe stammered. Dovewing continued sobbing.

Thornclaw nodded. "This is all very sad, but while you all are on patrols you are to be looking for Hawkpaw." He listed the patrols easily, and Nightfrost was going on a WindClan border patrol right away with Brackenfur, Sorreltail and Thornclaw. Sorreltail looked at Nightfrost expectantly, and Nightfrost was confused. After Thornclaw sorted out the day's patrols, he signaled for his patrol to follow him. Brackenfur and Thornclaw led the way to WindClan, while Sorretail and Nightfrost padded more slowly behind.

After some silence, Sorretail mewed, "You're a lucky she-cat, Nightfrost."

"Why?" asked Nightfrost, a bit confused.

"Oh, don't give me 'why'?" Sorretail mewed, glancing obviously at Nightfrost. "You and Thornclaw, of course."

"Wait... what?" Nightfrost mewed. "Thornclaw?"

"The whole Clan knows you're together." continued Sorretail. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed those moony looks he gives you! I bet you any she-cat in ThunderClan - in all of the Clans, would love to take your spot. Thornclaw's pretty popular, he's a good fighter, and he's not bad looking." She glanced around to make sure no cat was listening. "You know, before I became mates with Brackenfur I was interested in Thornclaw myself. A lot of she-cats were, and still are. But he's clueless. He doesn't really notice. It's a wonder how he notices you, you're so young. It's really nice to see he's finally taken a mate, he's kind of been lonely since after the Great Journey. Poor tom, all of his apprentices have gotten maimed or killed, except Poppyfrost. Shrewpaw dead, Briarlight injured, and Sootfur, my brother, you wouldn't know him, he died in the badger attack, was his former apprentice and he was killed."

"We haven't really talked about becoming mates yet." muttered Nightfrost uncomfortably.

"Well, you should. I doubt Hazeltail will be very happy, the she-cat's obsessed with him. And I mean, who wouldn't be?" Sorretail chuckled to herself. "Good thing I told you, Nightfrost, you seem to be clueless yourself. Haven't you noticed how you're on every patrol with him, how he immediately offered to be your mentor, and how he takes you everywhere? StarClan, you're a new warrior and he's invited you to the middle of the nest! Do you know how important that is?"

"I've never really noticed." confessed Nightfrost.

"Maybe you should talk tonight or something. Trust me, Nightfrost, it's obvious and the whole Clan's talking about it." Sorreltail bounded up to the two toms afterwards, leaving Nightfrost deep in thought.


	16. Chapter Fourteen: Hawkpaw's Maturity

The Clan had finally reached the lake. Over time, Hawkpaw had learned more and more about SkyClan. They said that a cat named Tigerstar was their ancestor, which meant that Hawkpaw was a SkyClan ancestor. The Clan had interested him, in their way of stalking birds and squirrels on trees. Hawkpaw also noticed that they climbed with the same skill that he had, and remembered that he had used the trees at ThunderClan to his advantage. There seemed to be something pulling him towards the Clan... and he felt like he belonged there more than he ever did in ThunderClan. No cat judged him, even when he told of his kins' blood-filled stories and the current battles. He discovered that Ravenpaw used to be Tigerstar's apprentice, and Ravenpaw was the very reason Firestar had mistrusted Tigerstar. Ravenpaw had seen Tigerstar, Tigerclaw at the time, kill Redtail at the Sunningrocks battle and blame it on the RiverClan deputy, Oakheart, who died in a rockfall during the battle.

"Here we are." Hawkpaw mewed. The SkyClan cats were behind him, curiously looking over the hill at the lake. There was a great view from the hill; the sweeping moorlands of WindClan stretched to their right, the flowing streams and rivers of RiverClan were to their left, and across the lake they could see the dark pines of ShadowClan mingling with the prey-filled trees of ThunderClan at the border. Surprisingly, Hawkpaw didn't feel homesick. "Those are our territories... there's no other woodlands beside the ones behind us, but those are on the borders of WindClan and RiverClan. That," He raised his paw and pointed straight ahead, "is the border between RiverClan and WindClan. If you were to stay here, you're only room would have to be the woods behind us."

Ravenpaw stepped forward and nodded to the ginger tom, Leafstar, and then Hawkpaw. "Thank you for helping me with the journey here." He mewed. "But I must go to ThunderClan... where I belong. Hawkpaw, do you know how to get there?"

Hawkpaw nodded. "Stay three tail-lengths away from the shore and cross WindClan territory. Eventually, you'll come across a stream. Wait there for a patrol, the woods are easy to get lost in."

The black tom's amber eyes looked confused. "A-aren't you coming, Hawkpaw...? Back to ThunderClan? I know you were running away, but you really belong there. You're not thinking of becoming a loner, are you? Because it's no easy life... you're too young. Come back to ThunderClan. You belong there."

"No." Hawkpaw mewed. "I don't. They don't know how to forgive and forget, and they're judging me by who my great-grandfather and half-grandfather were. I'm not like them. I was confused, but they don't understand. I want to be a part of a Clan that respects me for who I am... like Tawnypelt. She went to ShadowClan because she wasn't respected, and now she's very respected. I want to be like her. She had the courage to leave, and so will I. I want to stay with SkyClan."

"You're too young." Ravenpaw meowed, hurt in his voice. "You wouldn't understand."

"Actually, I do understand. Tawnypelt was an apprentice when she left... Brambleclaw told me himself." Hawkpaw's voice was shaking, but firm. "I want to be in a Clan where I belong. I have a right to be in SkyClan... I'm a descendant."

Ravenpaw dipped his head. "You're wise for an apprentice. I'll go to ThunderClan, then... and I'll tell them where you went. Don't open your mouth at me, they're probably really worried. Well, I'll be off, then." The black tom bounded away towards the shore, and after a few heartbeats he was swallowed up by the hills.


	17. Chapter Fifteen: An Unexpected Visitor

Cheetahpaw backed up a few paces, but Breezepelt's eyes weren't full of hate. They were relaxed and calm. "Don't be scared." He mewed. "I'm not trespassing or anything... I just wanted to say hi. Is that so bad?" Cheetahpaw glanced at the rising moon, and backed up another pace.

"Yes!" she hissed. "Why should I trust you? You killed the ThunderClan deputy! No Clan cat trusts you!" Breezepelt flinched and hurt welled up in his eyes, and for a moment Cheetahpaw felt bad. But then he blinked, and his eyes were filled with a new feeling... sorrow.

"I - I didn't mean to! I was under some influence, okay? No cat will forgive me, so I came on a walk! I strayed a bit far from WindClan, I guess... and I just wanted someone to talk to." He sighed. "My life just sucks."

"Your life?" Cheetahpaw snorted. "My parents were a part of the Dark Forest! My mom's dead. My dad's a traitor. Half of my Clan doesn't even look at me... and I didn't even do anything!"

"Yeah?" Breezepelt mewed. "My father ran off with a RiverClan she-cat... and then a medicine cat! And he had kits with her! Lionblaze and Jayfeather have ruined _my_ life... my father favors them. Whenever we patrol the ThunderClan border, he always has this moony, disgusting look on his face when he looks over the border. He doesn't care about me! And neither does my mother! They've broken up, and now my mother's pregnant with _Tornear's _kits, and no one cares about me! I don't even have an apprentice anymore, because they don't trust me! And Heathertail... who used to be my best friend... doesn't even talk to me!" His eyes were wide. "I bet you have someone that you can confide in, but I have no one! That's why I came over here... hoping I'd find someone to talk to... someone who wouldn't attack me."

"How do you know I'm not going to attack you?"

"You just don't seem like the cat that would. I mean you wouldn't, would you? You've heard my story... and I've heard yours. All I want is a friend."

Cheetahpaw narrowed her eyes. "A-are you moving to ShadowClan...?"

"Never!" Breezepelt mewed. "I'm going to prove my loyalty by my Clan by working even harder. They don't trust Onestar, either, but... um, nevermind. I just want to walk around the lake for a bit."

"You can't be a loyal WindClan warrior if you're talking to a ShadowClan cat on the other side of the lake." pointed out Cheetahpaw, her hostility fading. "If I were you, I'd go back to WindClan. They might be missing you, and ThunderClan will kill you if you don't make it there by dawn and you're still on their borders."

Breezepelt blinked. "I know." he mewed. "Listen, I wasn't going to walk around the lake. I was going to the Abandoned Twoleg Campsite, or the Campsite. Do you know where that is?"

Cheetahpaw shook her head. What in StarClan was the Abandoned Twoleg Campsite? If it had the word Twoleg in it, it couldn't be good. "No... what is that?"

"If you go up the stream at the RiverClan border, you'll find an abandoned camp. No Clan has claimed it, and it's where Clans from around the lake go to visit each other or to have some time to themselves. But you can't talk about it, or even mention it, even when you see a cat from your own Clan there, or else... well, I don't know, but you have to promise me you won't."

It sounded sketchy, but Cheetahpaw nodded her head. "How are you going to get there without any cat noticing?"

Breezepelt shrugged. "There's a tunnel underneath our territory that leads straight to it. I guess I was taking the long way. Hey, do you want to meet me there tomorrow night at moonhigh? I can show you around."

It sounded suspicious. Very suspicious. But Cheetahpaw noticed that she felt a surge of trust towards the traitor WindClan tom. Maybe it was because they both shared loss. "...Okay." Cheetahpaw mewed. "I'll... I'll go there tomorrow, and I won't bring anyone. Just promise me you'll go back to WindClan, okay?"

Breezepelt's eyes lit up, and he nodded and disappeared into the bushes.


	18. Chapter Sixteen: A Shocking Discovery

**AN: Sorry I haven't been updating, guys. I have five finals next week, a book report, and a 15 page paper to turn in. I really need to ace my finals, because I can't do summer school this year... I'm going to be active Monday (June... 6/7th?) again, because school's out at that time. Sorry:(**

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><p>The breeze whispered through the trees, and the sun was beginning to set. Streaks of orange lined the sky, and the sky was beginning to turn pink. The lake shimmered with the lights of the sunset.<p>

A limp rabbit was at Nightfrost's feet. She was gazing at the lake, and dabbed her paw into it. Ripples formed around the dabbed spot, and the minnows that were swimming lazily around vanished in a heartbeat.

The she-cat was by the WindClan border. After their dawn patrol, her and Thornclaw had some rest, and then Brackenfur made her go hunting with Moleclaw and Mousewhisker, and said it was "unnecessary for her to spend every moment with Thornclaw". Nightfrost had to admit there was some sense to his words, as Nightfrost and Thornclaw had gone on every patrol together since the she-cat was made a warrior.

Lionstar, Dustpelt and Graystripe returned with no luck. WindClan didn't offer them any help, even though Hawkpaw had clearly ventured off of the border. The three were outraged, but Lionstar knew they didn't have Hawkpaw because his scent went away from the camp.

Mousewhisker sat beside her, his gray and white coat dark under the shade. "Hi," he meowed. "Pretty, isn't it? Nothing like a newleaf sunset to get us ready for greenleaf."

"Greenleaf's in about two moons." pointed out Nightfrost. "But it's very pretty. I already brought my two mice back, and then I caught this rabbit."

"Nice catch." the tom remarked. "I - "

He was interrupted by a crashing of ferns. Moleclaw appeared, his cream and brown fur filled with thorns and undergrowth. He was panting. "Mousewhisker!" he gasped. "There's a stranger by the WindClan border. He calls himself an old friend of Firestar's... and his name's Ravenpaw."

Nightfrost had heard that name before... but she didn't remember where. She glanced at Mousewhisker, the leader of the patrol. The former horseplace cat nodded, and the three set off at a brisk pace towards the border. Thorns raked Nightfrost's sides, but since she had thicker fur, it didn't affect her. She ducked under oncoming branches and leaped over fallen logs until the trees thinned out, and a stream was running to their right. _The WindClan border._

A lean black tom was watching them with wide yellow eyes. His body structure looked familiar to Nightfrost, but she couldn't place it. His glowing amber eyes also reminded the newest warrior of ThunderClan of some cat... but again, she couldn't place it. The black tom turned and started to pad toward the patrol. Like Nightfrost, there was a white dash on his chest and he had a white tip on his tail. "Hello, friends." He rumbled. The voice tone sounded familiar too, and this time Nightfrost could pick it out. Dustpelt! This cat looked and sounded like Dustpelt, and the two had the same eyes. "You may not know me. I am Ravenpaw, and I used to be Firestar's best friend. Dustpelt is my brother, he's still alive, right?"

Mousewhisker nodded. "W-welcome, Ravenpaw." He dipped his head. "I've heard nursery tales of you... didn't you used to live by the old forest in a farm?"

_That's where I've heard his name!_

Ravenpaw sighed and nodded. "Ah, yes. But Barley died, and the owners closed down the farm... I don't know why. I had nowhere to turn, so I journeyed here with a few other cats. I've seen your missing apprentice on the way, but I must talk to your leader before I say anymore." Seeing Moleclaw's disbelieving eyes, the black cat chuckled. "No need to fear. I won't harm you. Now may I ask for you to show me the way to the ThunderClan camp?"

Mousewhisker shook his head yes, and the four made their way slowly through the forest. No one talked, and Nightfrost didn't want to start the conversation, so she stayed silent. _How did Ravenpaw already know Firestar was dead?_ was the question on her mind. _Did someone tell him? And what does he know about Hawkpaw?_

By the time they reached the camp, the sun had completely sunk. The night was at it's phase where the moon hadn't risen but there wasn't any sun, and the clouds moved slowly over the stars. The sky was a darker blue. The four cats crouched under the entrance, and reached the camp. Nightfrost eyes Ravenpaw at his reaction. The tom's eyes were wide and his mouth parted in an awed gasp. "W-what's with the tree?" Were his first words.

"It fell on the camp awhile ago." explained Moleclaw. "Before I was born, even! Well, I might've been a kit. But Graystripe's kit, Briarlight - "

"Graystripe has _other_ kits?" gasped Ravenpaw. "Who are they? Who's the mom?"

"Uh, Millie, a kittypet who saved him from the Twolegs." Moleclaw mewed, taken aback by the sudden interruption.

"Ah." Ravenpaw closed his eyes and nodded.

"Well anyway, she's crippled - "

Mousewhisker leaned close to Nightfrost and hissed in her ear, "Go alert Lionstar and Thornclaw... and perhaps Jayfeather and Snowpaw. Tell them we have a visitor. Thornclaw will remember Ravenpaw."

Nightfrost was making her way up the Highrock when she heard a gasped exclamation of "Ravenpaw!" and glanced over her shoulder to see Dustpelt bounding at his brother. Sandstorm peeked out of the medicine cat's den, her fur rugged and her eyes dull, but they lit up when she saw her old friend, and Graystripe was on Dustpelt's heels. Thornclaw padded out of the warriors den and brushed his tail along Ravenpaw's flank. Mousefur croaked a 'hello' from the elder's den.

"Lionstar?" she called into the den to her father.

"...Yes? Nightfrost, is that you? Come in."

Her father was sitting on some moss, eating a thrush with Icecloud, his mate and Nightfrost's mother. "What is it you need?" He asked.

Nightfrost explained what happened at the border, and what Ravenpaw had said about Hawkpaw. Lionstar and Icecloud were silent the whole time, listening to their offspring's story with wide eyes. After she was finished, Lionstar bowed his head. "Can you bring him to me?" he asked. "I've heard many tales of him... and I want to meet him and talk about Hawkpaw with him. Dovewing's really distraught."

Nightfrost nodded and slipped out of the den. By the time she made her way down the Highledge, the whole Clan had gathered around Ravenpaw. Snowpaw bounded up to Nightfrost, his tail high. "Ravenpaw's here!" he mewed.

"I know." Nightfrost meowed to her brother. "Lionstar wants to see him. Apparently Ravenpaw knows about Hawkpaw."

"Really?" squeaked Snowpaw, then cleared his throat. Him and Hawkpaw had been friends before Hawkpaw had run away. "Well, I mean that's good. Quailkit and Redkit are going to be apprentices really soon, they've been six moons for awhile now... but the apprentice's den is so empty. It's nice, but I miss Hawkpaw."

The black she-cat nodded and stoked her tail along her brother's flank as she shouldered her way through the crowd. Ravenpaw was in the middle, talking gently to a quivering Sandstorm while the other cats called out questions. Nightfrost circled around him and put her muzzle close to his ear. "Lionstar wants you." she whispered, then backed away. Ravenpaw glanced back and nodded. He murmured something into Sandstorm's ear and the she-cat pressed her muzzle briefly on his flank before Ravenpaw stood up and headed towards Nightfrost. "Nice seeing you again." he mewed cheerfully as the two climbed up the Highledge.

Ravenpaw reached the top and was panting. Nightfrost hopped up to the ledge easily and gave Ravenpaw a quizzical look. Was the old tom really this weak? "Just haven't done a lot of climbing in awhile." Ravenpaw gasped, then blinked. "Maybe ThunderClan will get me back into shape."

Nightfrost chuckled. "Lionstar is Leafpool and Crowfeather's son, and my father. He has incredible power... and is invincible in battle. He, Jayfeather and Dovewing were the Three destined in a prophecy to save us from the Dark Forest Battle. Dovewing brought help because she heard the battle from the camp, Lionblaze, then, killed off many Dark Forest warriors, and Jayfeather ridded Onestar of being possessed, he was possessed by Tigerstar. Firestar named Lionstar the leader, since Brambleclaw had been slain as well."

Ravenpaw bowed his head. "It's so sad." he whispered. "Tigerstar used to be my mentor, as you know. He killed Redtail... and I saw him." He lifted his head. "Well, let's go into your father's den. I would like to meet the new ThunderClan leader."

They padded into the den, and this time Icecloud wasn't here. Lionstar's pelt shone in the moonlight, and he bowed his head. "Welcome, Ravenpaw." He rumbled. "I have heard many stories about you. I heard my daughter give you some background information about how I recently became leader. Both of you - yes, Nightfrost - have a seat. We have much to talk about." Lionstar waited for the two to get comfortable, and mewed, "First order of business... Ravenpaw, do you know about the whereabouts of our lost apprentice, Hawkpaw? He is a dark brown tabby with amber eyes, and muscular shoulders. He looks more of a warrior than an apprentice, and is a bit taller than Nightfrost."

"Yes. I got to ThunderClan by traveling with a Clan named SkyClan. Their territory was in the old forest, and destroyed by Twolegs. The other Clans kicked them out, so they were sent away to a gorge. But disaster struck there too, and they headed to my farm. At that point, my friend Barley was dead and the farm was closing. To make a long story short, we reached the lake and saw your apprentice fleeing through the trees. We called down to him, and asked him where the new territories were because he looked like a Clan cat. He took us to the lake, and the SkyClan cats encouraged him to stay with them. I tried to convince him that he was a ThunderClan cat, but he wouldn't listen. He wanted to be in SkyClan. He said he felt as if he was SkyClan descent, but he's not related to Tigerstar, is he? I've heard rumors that Tigerstar was of SkyClan descent..."

"Hawkpaw is the son of Cloudtail's granddaughter, Dovewing, as his father is Bumblestripe. He isn't related to Tigerstar, but he does have the same looks as him, doesn't he? Now - "

"Stop." a voice mewed from outside the den. A shaking, gray she-cat with green eyes padded into the den. "You've got something wrong there. Hawkpaw is related to Tigerstar... he's Tigerheart's son."


	19. Chapter Seventeen: An Early Ceremony

**AN: I'm going to switch up the territories a bit and add a "secret woods" between WindClan and RiverClan territory. There's a small strip that leads to the lake, but most of it is above WindClan and RiverClan territory, on the hills. ;) Just letting you guys know... this isn't entirely canon, right? So I guess I can add a secret woods. Oh, I don't own Warriors by the way. A lot of things would have been changed if I did ;D**

**Oh, and Shmancy-Fancy-Cat - I am using one of your names for Hawkpaw, but I have one in mind for Cheetahpaw ;)**

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><p>"How are you related to SkyClan cats again?" mewed Sharpclaw, the dark ginger cat. Hawkpaw and him were on patrol together, along with another cat named Ebonyclaw.<p>

"I don't know." Hawkpaw mewed. "I just feel it."

They had discovered the stretch of woodland went to the lake, and they were smack between RiverClan and WindClan. No Clan had claimed the territory, as there weren't any scent of cats or border markers there. In two days, the SkyClan cats had already made the borders of their territory. They suspected visitors from the two Clans at any moment, and Leafstar had sent the three cats to scout out the rest of their territory.

"Well, you sure have the tree-climbing ability of one." remarked Ebonyclaw. "I'm not related to SkyClan, but when they needed me most I stood by their side. All that matters is loyalty, right? In this Clan we were all loners, rogues or kittypets once, and some have gone back to that life, but the cats who stayed are the ones that are truly loyal to SkyClan."

"You're right." Sharpclaw mewed. "Those cats who used to be a part of SkyClan and left... they were just wasting our time... like Snookthorn, Macyver, and Harveymoon. At least Breezewish accepted a true warrior name... and not Frecklewish. That used to be her old name."

Hawkpaw nodded, and studied the territory. There wasn't as much undergrowth as there was in ThunderClan, and the trees were huge and covered with leaves. You could barely see the sun through the thick canopies, but that wasn't a problem for SkyClan cats. They maneuvered easily through the trees, and Hawkpaw had caught on easily.

"We'll set a border marker here." decided Sharpclaw as they reached the RiverClan border. A stream marked the territory. Ebonyclaw glanced at Hawkpaw. "I don't think you can make borders yet." she mewed apologetically. "You still have a scent of ThunderClan on you. That's the Clan you were a part of, right?"

"Yeah." mewed Hawkpaw, taking a pace forward and squinting. The RiverClan territory was marshy and had a lot of streams. It was open, so Hawkpaw could easily see the three cats swimming towards them. "Sharpclaw, I think there's a patrol coming." He nodded to the RiverClan cats, who were now making their way out of the water and shaking their pelts. At once, they bounded towards the SkyClan cats.

"Well, we were going to meet them sooner or later." Sharpclaw growled. "Firestar told us about border patrols before. We never really had to set borders before, because there were no other cats, and these fat cats don't look much like a threat."

"They may be fat, but they're strong because of the fish they eat." Hawkpaw explained. "At these times, every cat is a threat."

As the RiverClan patrol approached, Hawkpaw started to recognize the cats. One was Reedwhisker, the RiverClan deputy, and another was Graymist. He didn't recognize the chubby apprentice scrambling to catch up behind them. Reedwhisker yowled a challenging call, then bounded over towards them.

"Who are you?" the black tom hissed. "You smell of ThunderClan! I don't recognize any of you though... who are you? Where do you come from? You are on uncharted territory, which is a threat to us. We will fight if needed."

"I'm guessing you're RiverClan." Sharpclaw mewed. His voice had an edge, and Hawkpaw realized he was trying to keep his anger in. "Firestar journeyed away many moons ago when you were in the old forest to rebuild a lost Clan, called SkyClan. We were thrown out in the old forest long before you were born. The Twolegs had destroyed our old and recent territory, so a loner named Ravenpaw led us to the lake. He spoke of the other four Clans living there, and we came to find Firestar, but we realize he's dead. We are now taking full part of life at the lake."

_"What?" _the apprentice hissed. "That's the biggest fishdung I've ever heard! These cats are rogues, can't you see Reedwhisker? No, they're not rogues, they're greedy ThunderClan cats in disguise!"

Hawkpaw bristled. "ThunderClan's not as greedy as you lot, you all are fat fishfaces!"

"Shut up, both of you." growled Reedwhisker. "I've heard tales from Mistystar of Firestar's disappearance. This story actually makes perfect sense..." He turned to look at Sharpclaw. "But you can't just take territory. It's not ours, but it may be WindClan's. Before you make your home here, you will need permission from all four leaders."

Sharpclaw mewed, "There was no cat scent in any of these woods. How can we ask the other three leaders? Perhaps they can talk to our leader, Leafstar. Who are the other three leaders?"

"Lionstar of ThunderClan, Blackstar of ShadowClan, and Onestar of WindClan are the other Clan's leaders." Graymist mewed. Her voice was hostile, but there wasn't a challenging glare in her eyes and her claws were sheathed. "And Mistystar of RiverClan is our leader."

"We will tell Mistystar of the news." mewed Reedwhisker. "And I'll pass on the news to ShadowClan... and perhaps WindClan. I will tell WindClan to tell ThunderClan."

"When will we know if we're accepted into this forest?" asked Sharpclaw.

"I don't know." mewed Reedwhisker. "Graymist... go get Mistystar. _Run_..." Graymist bounded off and Hawkpaw lost sight of her as she vanished through the ferns. "Mistystar will come. I am the deputy of RiverClan, so I don't make all of the important decisions for the Clan. You know about Clan hierarchy, correct?"

Sharpclaw nodded. "I am the deputy of SkyClan. Firestar taught us all we need to know of the Clans. Our medicine cat is Echosong and her apprentice, Breezewish. This is Hawkpaw..." He pointed to Hawkpaw with his tail, "And this is Ebonyclaw."

"I'm Frostpaw." growled the silver tabby apprentice. Hawkpaw felt a pang in his chest. He had met this cat before... at a Gathering! His first Gathering! She knew who he was! "And I still think these SkyClan cats are ThunderClan. Just look at that apprentice! He was one of the Dark Forest cats." She glared at Hawkpaw triumphantly.

Reedwhisker's eyes grew hard. "You're right, Frostpaw. Indeed I do recognize this cat. He looks just like his great-grandfather." He snarled, "Is this a Clan of the Dark Forest cats?"

"No!" Hawkpaw mewed, stepping forward. "I wasn't being given the respect that I thought I earned in ThunderClan. No cat would treat me right, and I only visited the Dark Forest twice. I knew I did something wrong, and I apologized, but no one would listen. So I ran away to here, where I'm accepted. And I'm not even related to Tigerstar! My mom's Dovewing and my dad's Bumblestripe."

"Coward!" crowed Frostpaw. "Running away? Hah! You need to _earn _loyalty from cats, you chicken!"

"This will stop, now." growled Ebonyclaw. "Every cat in _our _Clan is equal in our eyes, and it doesn't matter what an uneducated cat thinks. Hawkpaw is loyal to SkyClan, and that's all that matters. If he didn't fit in at ThunderClan, why stay? As long as he's loyal, he's an equal in our eyes."

Reedwhisker closed his eyes. "She does have a point, so shut it Frostpaw. You're being annoying and not showing an amount of respect for these cats."

"Why should I - "

Hawkpaw saw two gray cats bounding side by side towards them. Mistystar and Graymist! It was almost impossible to tell them apart except for Mistystar's regal look, while Graymist looked more tired and interested. Were they related? A golden tabby she-cat followed more slowly, her amber eyes thoughtful.

"Greetings." mewed Mistystar as the two arrived. "I heard about the whole story from Graymist. May I talk to your leader? Reedwhisker, you better come, too. Graymist... escort Frostpaw back to camp and continue the patrol by WindClan. We don't want our young apprentice to cause any problems. Oh, and this is Mothwing, our medicine cat." The golden tabby dipped her head to the patrol. Hawkpaw remembered her from a Gathering.

Frostpaw looked defiant, but followed Graymist as the two dived through the water. Hawkpaw turned around and followed Sharpclaw through the trees towards his camp. Would Mistystar allow them to live on her borders?

The SkyClan camp was in a dip in the ground. It was surrounded by brambles and thick-trunked trees. Hawkpaw crouched beneath the entrance and made his way through the brambles. He emerged through the entrance to see the whole camp was milling around, building dens. Some cats stopped and pricked their ears when they saw the new cats arrived. Leafstar was in the middle of the camp, mewing to Echosong. As she saw the cats, she stopped the conversation and looked at them with curious eyes.

Mistystar was the first to speak. "Hello. I am Mistystar, the leader of RiverClan. We saw your cats patrolling by our borders and wanted to have a little chat. This is Reedwhisker, our deputy... and Mothwing, our medicine cat."

Leafstar bowed her head. "Welcome to SkyClan." she mewed. "I am Leafstar, and you have probably met my deputy Sharpclaw. This is Echosong, our medicine cat. Would you prefer to talk in private or the open?"

"The open's fine." replied Mistystar. "We've heard about your story, and I would just like to start off with saying that Firestar was a very respected cat. We heard he taught your Clan all of its' ways when he went away all of those moons ago. I have come to see your way of life... since you're living on our borders, I would like to speak of border markings."

"Ah, yes." mewed Leafstar. "I instructed my warriors to scout around and to mark where the other Clans have marked. We haven't seen a WindClan patrol yet, and we weren't sure if the small strip of woodlands leading to the lake was claimed, so we stayed away from it."

"It's not." Mistystar meowed. "In fact, it's RiverClan's, but we have no use of it. We have recently expanded our territory. Maybe... if WindClan and the other Clans agree to allowing you to share our way of life, you can have it? You will need access to the lake."

"That would be a very generous offer." Leafstar mewed. "Do you want me to visit the other Clans and talk to them? The full moon is far away."

Mistystar nodded. "That would be wise." she murmured. "Here, my medicine cat will stay with yours for a few days to teach them the basics. We have another at our camp, so she will be fine. I trust you won't kidnap her. I'm being very generous..." She warned. "How about you go now to the other Clans? Tell them you come in peace... things are very tense now. ThunderClan especially will welcome you." A spark of humor entered her eyes.

Leafstar looked a bit confused. "Okay." she agreed. "Thanks for your help, Mistystar."

"No problem." Mistystar mewed. "May StarClan light your path."

"And yours." responded Leafstar. "Ebonyclaw, can you lead them back to the border? It's not that I don't trust you," she added to Mistystar's look of anger. "It's just because it's easy to get lost in these woods."

The SkyClan cats waited until the three cats had left. Mothwing disappeared into the medicine cat's den with Echosong, and Leafstar rallied her cats with a yowl. "Sharpclaw and I are going away to meet the other Clans." She fixed her gaze on Hawkpaw, and his stomach plummeted. He knew what was going to happen, and he didn't like it... "Hawkpaw, you know you're way around the territories. You'll come with us."

"Leafstar, I - " protested Hawkpaw. "Um... won't ThunderClan want me to come back when they see I'm here?"

Leafstar shook her head. "Not if we make you a warrior first. Then you're officially SkyClan's... if you want to be a SkyClan cat."

"I - I do!" Hawkpaw stammered. A warrior? He was barely an apprentice! What was she thinking?

"I, Leafstar, leader of SkyClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Hawkpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do!" Hawkpaw mewed, his voice clear. His mind was buzzing. What will happen in ThunderClan when they find out Hawkpaw's a _warrior _in SkyClan? Will they fight to keep him?

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name. Hawkpaw, from this moment you will be known as Hawkheart. StarClan honors your courage and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of SkyClan."

Hawkheart bounded forward to lick Leafstar's shoulder, and she rested her muzzle on his head. Immediately, the whole Clan gathered around Hawkheart, chanting his name.

"Nice name!" exclaimed Bouncefire. "Better than mine! It's brave and tough!"

"Thanks!" Hawkheart mewed. As the SkyClan cats pressed around him, Hawkheart realized he had never felt this accepted in ThunderClan... or this happy.


	20. Chapter Eighteen: Midnight Pranks

**AN: Yayy... Hawkheart got his name... but way too early D: Sorry, I had to speed up things, guys :P Cheetahpaw's won't be until a bit though~ ;D I kinda realized I've never done an actual training session, lol... and yes, Nightfrost's power will be revealed soon :3 No, Hawkheart doesn't have a power... but he's the connection through SkyClan and will actually do something important later xP Sorry he's been so gary sue..**

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><p>The moon wasn't shining tonight. Only the cold stars of Silverpelt glittering above let Cheetahpaw know that her ancestors were watching. Her mottled pelt gleamed in the starlight. Small twoleg nests loomed in front of her as the she-cat padded towards them.<p>

_The CrossClan meeting place. _It didn't seem as exciting as she thought it'd be, and it took a lot of convincing and lying to Starlingpaw to get out of camp.

_"Let's go hunting." Starlingpaw had mewed. "I want to make up for yesterday."_

_"Blackstar told me to go hunting alone." Cheetahpaw had explained, a pang of sadness gripping her heart. "Sorry... but it's like an assessment. But maybe later, okay? And you don't need to make up anything. Yesterday was fine, just forget about it."_

_"I never see you anymore." Starlingpaw thrust his head close to Cheetahpaw's. "We're either night hunting, training, or on patrol. We're best friends, and we need to talk more, right?"_

_"Uh... yeah." Cheetahpaw backed away. "Best friends... yeah. We're best friends. I just need to go hunting alone, but I'll come right back. Bye."_

_She couldn't ignore Starlingpaw's eyes as she turned around... they were full of sadness and regret._

"You came." a voice whispered from behind her. Breezepelt's bright amber eyes shone from behind her, and he slipped out of the bush he was hiding in. "For a moment I thought you were some other cat! I've been waiting here forever... but I had to leave at dusk, so..."

"Dusk? For me?" gasped Cheetahpaw. "That's a lot. Are you sure no cat knows you're here?"

Breezepelt shrugged. "If they did, they wouldn't care. My Clan doesn't really care what I do. They're kind of afraid of me." He gazed at Cheetahpaw. "So did you have to lie to some cats to get here? What excuse did you use?"

"I told my friend I was going night hunting, and that my mentor had told me to go by myself. We don't see each other much, and he gets kind of sad when I reject him." explained Cheetahpaw, bowing her head. "I feel guilty."

"Don't." Breezepelt murmured. "I'm worth it, right?"

"I still don't really know you." pointed out Cheetahpaw. "I only know that you killed the ThunderClan deputy."

"Bad cats are cool, though, huh? Since you're in ShadowClan?" Breezepelt's eyes sparkled. "Come on, I have a good idea." He trotted out of the camp, and Cheetahpaw quickly caught up. "What are we doing?" she asked.

"It's called fun." Breezepelt whispered. They were on the RiverClan border. "Roll in their scent marks... we're going over to their territory."

"Why?" asked Cheetahpaw.

Breezepelt rolled his eyes. "Those fatties sleep all night, and they're the best to mess with."

"Mess with?" echoed Cheetahpaw, rolling in their scent marks. She wrinkled her nose. Ugh, disgusting! They smelled like droppings a fish would make. "What do you mean?"

Breezepelt sighed. "You ShadowClan cats have a reputation of being bad, right? Then why don't you act it? You think I'm a bad cat, so let's go mess with RiverClan."

"I never said you were a bad cat." murmured Cheetahpaw. "I just want to know what we're doing."

"Okay, if you really want to know." The two cats kept to the shadows. "Their camp is right over here, right by the border. I told you they're stupid." They were behind what seemed like a forest of reeds. They wove their way through it until they reached a clearing surrounded by streams. The RiverClan cats were sleeping out in the open. Cheetahpaw guessed it was because it was such a pretty newleaf night. She turned around to find Breezepelt with a rock in his jaws. "Watch." he mumbled through the rock. Throwing his head back, he whipped it forward and released the rock. The rock flew from his mouth onto a RiverClan warrior's back.

Immediately, the warrior sprung up, his eyes blazing. "Icewing!" he snarled to a pure white she-cat. "Stop throwing rocks at me! It's not funny!"

Breezepelt and Cheetahpaw were snorting with laughter.

Icewing's eyes were wide. "I - I didn't do anything!"

"You try." Breezepelt hissed. "Aim at that silver cat over there... her name's Willowshine. The medicine cat one should be interesting."

Nodding, Cheetahpaw bent down and placed a rock between her teeth. Gripping the rock, she threw her head back and launched the rock towards the medicine cat. The arguing cats didn't notice as it sailed over their heads, and bounced on the ground. It bounced on the medicine cat's head. At once, she was up and yowling, "What idiot threw a rock at me?"

Soon, the whole RiverClan camp was up and yowling at each other. Some had their claws unsheathed. Breezepelt and Cheetahpaw were mrrowing with laughter. Suddenly, Breezepelt stopped laughing, his eyes flicking side to side. "Someone's coming." he hissed. "We have to leave, now! Run!"

Cheetahpaw felt her stomach plummet. If a cat found them, two cats from different Clans, they would think it was an invasion! Turning around, she bounded out of the reeds. They whipped her face, but she kept running. After she got out of the reeds, she hopped over the tumbling streams. The border was ahead... but where was Breezepelt?

"Cheetahpaw! Don't look back, keep running! I'm right here." Breezepelt gasped from her side. Nodding, she leaped over the border and hid behind a tree. She poked her head out from behind it and saw two RiverClan cats sniffing around.

"Definitely rogues spying on our camp." mewed one. "Mistystar needs to come back, and so does Reedwhisker. Having an idiot like Mintfur in charge is slowing us down."

The silver tabby nodded. "Agreed. The rogues have gone over to ShadowClan... I hope they'll stay there. Let's go back to camp."

The two cats padded out of sight.

Breezepelt's eyes gleamed from beside Cheetahpaw. "That was close." he breathed. "I need to go back to WindClan, now... and you to ShadowClan. I like being friends with you, but I've realized your right. If I want to be loyal to my Clan, I can't be sneaking out of camp like this. I guess I'll see you at the Gathering."

Cheetahpaw didn't understand why, but a pang of sadness shook her as she saw the lonely tom pad away towards his territory.


	21. Chapter Nineteen: Secrets Secrets

**AN: Thanks for the reviews guys :D CheetahxBreeze isn't over yet, don't worry xD I had to rewrite this chapter because my internet broke down... x_x;; Sorry if it's kinda rushed. D:**

**Shmancy-Fancy-Kitteh - you're close ;D I was thinking of Cheetahstorm/fang but it seemed to guy-ish xD Perhaps I'll do another one of yours :3 **

**Kind of inapropriate (like Teen - Mature rated I'd say) at the beginning. Just warning you~ **

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><p>It was midnight. The sky was a dark blue, and the stars of Silverpelt glittered through the treetops. Moonlight filtered through the leaves, and shards of light scattered the forest floor. A soft breeze whispered through the branches, and a soft stream tumbled through the forest. An annoyed yowl broke the songs of the forest.<p>

"What is it this time?" hissed Nightfrost, facing Toadstep, who was clutching his paw and mewling in pain.

"Stubbed my paw on a rock!" he gasped, his eyes wide. He was rocking back and forth on his back on the forest floor. Nightfrost rolled her eyes. Toadstep was a baby, and he didn't even seem to care that his father and half-brother died. He seemed perfectly fine, while Rosepetal was still grieving in the medicine cat's den.

"Oh, grow up." Nightfrost mewed. "It doesn't hurt that bad, you're just trying to get my attention."

Toadstep hauled himself up, a gleam in his eyes. "I don't need your attention." he scoffed. "I already have the attention of every single she-cat in this Clan."

Nightfrost snorted. "Really, like who?"

Toadstep smirked, and thrust his face into Nightfrost's. "You, for one... Hazeltail - "

"She's your sister, that's not normal." Nightfrost mewed. "I wouldn't mate with my brother!"

"Snowpaw's a medicine cat, it's against the _rules_." Toadstep mewed, sighing and rolling his eyes. "Just because Hazeltail moons over me doesn't mean I'll moon over _her. _Cherrypelt moons over me all day... and Ivypool always volunteers to go hunting with me."

"That doesn't mean a she-cat 'loves' you." stated Nightfrost. "Ivypool goes hunting with anyone... and who said I pay any attention to you?"

"Oh, I've heard Cinderheart and Lionstar aren't together anymore." Toadstep mewed.

"That's moons old." Nightfrost growled. "They were before I was born, but then Lionstar and Icecloud had this one-night affair, Lionstar and Cinderheart were together again, and then they faded apart, and now Lionstar's starting to be with Icecloud again."

"I _know _that, I was just keeping her in mind." scoffed Toadstep. "And I know you're obsessed with me. I can prove it."

"How?" muttered Nightfrost, slipping into a hunter's crouch. She waggled her haunches, and pounced on a floating leaf.

"By that." Toadstep whispered, his eyes gleaming. He padded towards Nightfrost. The look in his eyes unnerved her. "You just showed me all of the stuff I didn't need to see. You pretty much showed me the bottom part of your body. That's like, the cat mating signal."

"Go mate with someone else, because obviously I was stalking a leaf and you were looking there." growled Nightfrost.

Toadstep shrugged. "Whatever." he mewed. "You're with Thornclaw anyway." They had reached the ShadowClan border, the destination they had to reach. Lionstar wanted to send two inexperienced warriors on a border patrol to see how they shaped up. Nightfrost wasn't sure if any cat was watching their progress, and she hoped no cat had overheard their conversation.

"I'll mark the border." Toadstep mewed, a glint in his eye. "You just watch how I do it, okay?" He padded over to a tree, facing Dovewing, and raised a leg, showing his exposed member.

"If you're trying to make me "moon" over you, it's not working." called out Nightfrost. "Save it for your half-sister, or maybe Cherrypelt."

Toadstep shrugged and marked the border. Nightfrost's thoughts wandered to a few hours before, when Dovewing confessed her secret.

_A shocked silence greeted the she-cat's words. Lionstar had closed his eyes, and was shaking his head softly. His claws scraped against the moss, leaving soft scuffmarks. Dovewing looked ashamed, while Ravenpaw bowed his head and shuffled his paws. Nightfrost guessed he didn't want to take part in the conversation._

_"W-why?" asked Lionstar, finally looking up. His eyes were hollow with disbelief. "I've always thought you were a loyal cat, Dovewing. Ever since your extraordinary hearing saved us from the Dark Forest, I've considered you as one of my most loyal cats. But mating with a ShadowClan tom... a Dark Forest cat, especially... I just never would've thought you'd do it."_

_"I'm sorry." Dovewing whispered. "I know my actions can never be reversed... but I had come up with you to talk to you about it. Bumblestripe has always known... and Ivypool found out many moons ago. I was pregnant with the kits moons before the battle, and by then I stopped seeing Tigerheart and I was becoming closer to Bumblestripe. When he found out I was pregnant, he was overjoyed. But I know they weren't his, so I told him. I meant to tell Hawkpaw, but after the Dark Forest fight I didn't want him to feel even more of an outcast. I didn't know Bumblestripe had made him leave... I got really mad after. I didn't want him to grow up in lies like you and Jayfeather did."_

_Lionstar narrowed his eyes, and stood up. He paced the den, and then stopped, looking at his former apprentice with wide eyes. "Dovewing, I can't punish you, and you know that. You've done so much for us, and you can do so much more. I know you, and you would have come to me in private if it mattered so much... and you would've told me this after Hawkpaw disappeared. You would only confess to me in front of other cats because the guilt was eating you up... or you had something else to confess. Are you hiding something else, Dovewing?"_

_Dovewing shook her head, her eyes closed. She sighed and opened them. "Yes, I am." she mewed. "But you must promise me that you won't... interfere... after I tell you this. Do you promise?"_

_Lionstar stared at Dovewing for a few moments, then nodded. "Go on." he meowed._

_Dovewing started with another sigh. "As you know, I had two kits, not one. The other one supposedly wandered away before she reached six moons, but this isn't true. Spottedkit and Hawkpaw didn't have their full pelt-colors by then, and they both looked like Tigerheart. Since they were three moons, they had blue eyes. I didn't know which one looked more like Tigerheart. I guessed Spottedkit resembled him a bit, so after the kits were born I snuck away and told him about them. He seemed shocked, and I knew he could never live knowing that two of his kits and former mate were in another Clan. Tensions were high then, so I brought him Spottedkit. I wanted him to have a piece of me in his Clan, because we weren't together then. I still loved him, but I didn't want to betray my Clan and StarClan by being mates with a Dark Forest cat. He told me later that as he was walking back, the she-cat who loved him, Applefur, saw him with me. She confronted him, and Tigerheart said he'd be mates with her if she kept quiet and pretended to be Spottedkit's mother. ShadowClan didn't suspect a thing, and still go on this day thinking that Spottedkit, or Spottedpaw, now, is Applefur and Tigerheart's kit. But Applefur's dead, so... the secret was safe. But after Hawkpaw ran away, I wanted to tell you the truth."_

_Nightfrost had been the one to break the silence. "Did Spottedpaw... die?" she rasped._

_The pale-gray she-cat shook her head. "No. Spottedkit's name changed. To Cheetahkit."_

"Hey, Nightfrost! You there? Too busy staring at me, huh?" Toadstep's obnoxious voice rang out in front of Nightfrost. Shaking her head, Nightfrost stood up and shook her pelt. Toadstep was in front of her, staring at her cockily.

"So you were!" he crowed. "Thornclaw's got a run for his prey! He's got competition, also known as me!" Toadstep struck a pose.

"In your dreams." snorted Nightfrost. "You're one of the worst looking tom's I've ever seen."

"She-cats love the cockiness." explained Toadstep. "It makes them go crazy. That's what Dustpelt told me."

"What does Dustpelt know?" muttered Nightfrost. "He's been with Ferncloud his whole life."

"Wrong!" yowled Toadstep. "He mates with other she-cats all the time, and Ferncloud mates with different toms. Once at a Gathering, she mated with Blackstar, the ShadowClan leader. Crazy, huh?"

"Stop listening to what Berrynose used to say." Nightfrost growled. "Because most of the time, it's not true. It seems like your following in his pawsteps, though. The newest ThunderClan show-off."

Toadstep shrugged. "So? It's still interesting. Hey, can I tell you something?" he asked. "And I'm serious, I'm not joking, you can't tell any cat this. It's not a joke." Nightfrost could see from the seriousness in his eyes that it wasn't.

"I won't tell any cat." promised Nightfrost.

"Okay. Well you know how Hazeltail's kits are supposedly Foxleap's?"

"Is this something Berrynose told you?"

"No! They're _my_ kits, Nightfrost! Not Foxleap's, mine!"

Nightfrost fixed him with an icy stare. "That's not funny." she mewed.

"I'm _serious_. I was an apprentice when I kind of had a thing for her. I don't care that we're half-siblings, the whole Clan's related. One night, we went into the woods and well... mated. She didn't care that I was an apprentice, she said it was the best experience in her life." Toadstep sighed. "Foxleap and her aren't even mates! She doesn't want to admit the kits are mine because she thinks Daisy will be distraught. She's related to Foxleap because Daisy was mates with Spiderleg, well... not blood related, but... so why can't she admit that the kits are mine?"

"I don't know." Nightfrost mewed. "But the fact that you mated with your sister is kind of revolting."

Toadstep rolled his eyes. "I don't care, just don't tell anyone. They resemble me, not Foxleap. Cats are going to notice!"

"It's your fault." Nightfrost mewed dryly. "Mating with your siblings is a little weird, Toadstep. It's not normal."

"So? I'm related to Cherrypelt, but I mate with her all the time. I'm surprised you can't hear us, since Cherrypelt prefers behind the warrior's den."

"I don't need to know about your mating life, thanks." mewed Nightfrost. "But really, Toadstep. If you want her to admit it, stop mating with every she-cat in the Clan, and being so cocky about it."

Toadstep looked at her. "Thanks, I guess." he murmured. "I feel as if I don't know any of your secrets, Nightfrost. What do you have to hide?"

"Nothing. My life's boring." Nightfrost mewed. And for the first time, she realized it was. She closed her eyes, trying to escape this awkward moment. She didn't want to be spending time with Toadstep, she wanted to be with Thornclaw. She still hadn't asked him about the mate thing... She opened her eyes to find a shocked Toadstep looking at her.

"Nightfrost, where'd you go?" he called out. "You kind of, disappeared!"

Nightfrost looked down at herself, but all she saw was shadows. She didn't see her paws, and turning her head around, she didn't see her body. Where had she gone?

She closed her eyes. _I want to be back, I want to be back... I want to be with Toadstep on patrol! I don't want to disappear!_

She opened her eyes to see Toadstep's eyes wide in shock. "Nightfrost!" he gasped. "You were here, and then you weren't! And now you are! It's like you have some kind of superpower... where you can fade into the shadows!"

_A superpower? What is going on?_

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><p>I had to end it, lol. So here it is xD<p> 


	22. Chapter Twenty: Visiting the Clans

**Shmancy-Fancy-Kitteh: Lol, my prophecies are painfully obvious, I know xD You're close with the 'Cheetah' names! ;D Well... almost. The CheetahxBreeze... it is very weird and random, but I guess I made them get together because they both lost something (cheetah the respect of her clanmates, and her father is distant and uncomforting and breeze lost the respect of his clanmates as well). We'll see how it goes ;D**

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><p>The wind whipped at Hawkheart's face as the young tom ran through the grass. Leafstar was in front, and Sharpclaw was to his side. None of them knew their way around WindClan territory, and Hawkheart wanted to escape the wind and grass whipping at him. How could cats bear to live here? The three had waited on the border for awhile, but then they realized WindClan didn't patrol by the forest boundaries because no cats lived there... until now. They decided to find their way to the WindClan back by walking right through their territory.<p>

Hawkheart was relieved when he saw three outlined figures staring at them from the top of a hill. Their tails were kinked, and to Hawkheart's dismay, he could see their claws were unsheathed. At the flick of the middle cat's tail, the three cats bounded towards the SkyClan patrol. Hissing and spitting, the two WindClan cats were about to launch themselves into battle when the leader of the WindClan patrol yowled, "Halt!"

The two WindClan warriors froze, and Hawkheart recognized the leader of the patrol as Ashfoot. Her dark gray fur was slicked back because of the breeze, and her amber eyes flashed challengingly. "Who are you, and what are you doing here?" she asked. Her voice was hostile, and her claws still were unsheathed. Her strong muscles rippled under her thin frame, and Hawkheart knew he didn't want to pick a fight with this she-cat.

Leafstar stepped forward, her amber eyes calm and collected. Her brown and white tabby fur shone in the sunlight, and she spoke with cool authority. "My name is Leafstar." she responded. She then proceeded to tell the WindClan cats of their story, them coming to the forest, and Mistystar's request. While Leafstar was speaking, Hawkheart noticed that Ashfoot and the other WindClan cats had sheathed their claws, and their eyes were now wary, and not hostile like before. As Leafstar finished her story, Ashfoot flicked her tail.

"We might as well bring you to the WindClan camp." the WindClan deputy mewed. "I believe your story, but I cannot allow you to stay on our boundaries without my leader's - and the other Clan's - approval. We have always been used to four Clans, and SkyClan coming here might shake the little faith in our ancestors we have left."

"Little faith?" echoed Sharpclaw as the WindClan patrol began to turn away and start trotting towards their camp. "What do you mean? Have you lost faith in your ancestors?"

A thin tom with a ginger pelt and white paws turned to face the patrol. His eyes were hollow with grief. "They didn't help us at our greatest time of need." He meowed sadly. "When we needed them the most, they didn't come."

_The Dark Forest battle! _Hawkheart thought. _Oh no, are the Clans this shaken by the battle that they've lost faith in their ancestors? _Another side of his head answered, _Why shouldn't they be? They were betrayed, and StarClan offered them no help._ Hawkheart felt no comfort by his arguing mind, and felt that the Dark Forest battle was partly his fault. At least the WindClan warriors didn't recognize him.

"Was that the Dark Forest battle we've heard about?" Leafstar inquired. Hawkheart shot her a warning glance, but didn't catch her eye. Would the WindClan warriors wonder how they found out about the battle?

The black-gray tom rounded on the patrol with flashing blue eyes. "How do you know about the battle?" he challenged. "Were maybe you all a part of it? Are you all Dark Forest cats?"

"Be quiet, Crowfeather." hissed Ashfoot. "Obviously, this Clan isn't Dark Forest cats or they would have attacked us at the first chance. But I admire your curiosity. Perhaps they learned it from the RiverClan patrol, of course the battle is big news around the lake."

"Yes." Hawkheart mewed quickly. "We heard it from a RiverClan patrol."

Sharpclaw looked at him strangely, but Hawkheart ignored it. Snorting, Crowfeather turned around and bounded ahead. Sighing, Ashfoot followed. The ginger tom looked apologetically at the patrol. "Sorry." he mewed. He sounded more cheerful then the others. "Crowfeather's son was a part of the battle, so he's angrier than usual, and Ashfoot's his mom, so she's gone to calm him down. I might as well escort you to the camp, it's hard to find if you miss it. The name's Weaselfur, by the way." Weaselfur led the SkyClan cats through thick grass, over rabbit holes, and they finally reached a concealed dip in the ground covered with gorse. The WindClan tom hopped over the gorse and signaled for the SkyClan cats to follow with his tail.

"Welcome to our camp." He mewed. The WindClan camp was bustling with activity, and it seemed as though they were sending out patrols and fixing up the dens. "We're going over some renovations." explained Weaselfur. "Onestar and a patrol found some new building materials called sticks and twigs. They're much stronger than the old stuff we used to use, but not as comfy." Leafstar nodded. The WindClan cats had stopped to look at the visitors. Some glared, while others looked at them with wide, curious eyes.

A brown tabby with amber eyes stepped out from the crowd. He had a white underbelly, and his pale tabby coat blended into the hard-packed dirt below his feet. _Onestar! _Hawkheart remembered. He had been possessed by Mapleshade and Tigerstar during the battle! He showed no sign of evil, but looked like he was close to being defeated. Some cats eyed him warily, and Hawkheart realized that Onestar's Clan didn't trust him. "Welcome to WindClan." he meowed deeply. "Ashfoot has just told me about you, before you came of course. The matter being discussed is will we let you live on our territory? I say, why not? Who cares anymore if the Clans are shifted from four to five? No one trusts anyone anymore, so why should I care? As long as your respectable cats, and respect our borders, we will respect yours. Now be gone. Breezepelt, escort them back."

"We're going to ThunderClan, actually." Sharpclaw had an edge to his mew. Obviously the deputy didn't like or trust Onestar. "So he can escort us there."

"Control your temper, Sharpclaw." Leafstar mewed, lightly touching the tom with her tail. "Thank you for allowing us to live here, Onestar." She bowed her head, and retreated out of the camp. A gray-black tom with angry amber eyes followed the SkyClan cats. He reminded Hawkheart of someone...

"My name's Breezepelt." the tom spat. "Onestar might respect you and all, but I don't. In fact, I think you all are a load of trouble, if you ask me. I'll escort you, but don't think we're friends or anything. You're heads are probably stuffed with the feathers you munch on."

"How do you know we eat birds?" snarled Hawkheart, flaring up. He didn't like this tom, not one bit. "Maybe you're head's stuffed with the rabbit fluff you wolf down your throats!"

"Wanna fight, fox dung?" Breezepelt growled, launching himself at Hawkheart. Hawkheart swatted the small tom away with a flick of his paw, and Breezepelt lay on the ground panting. "Y-you're not related to Tigerstar, are you?" Fear flashed in his eyes. "Y-you look j-just like him! Good StarClan!"

"Tigerstar?" asked Hawkheart casually, pretending he didn't know who the big tom was. He did look like Tigerstar, but Hawkpaw knew he had no relation to the tyrant. "I don't know a Tigerstar. But I can claw you to shreds, so stay away!"

Breezepelt growled, and bounded in front of the watching SkyClan cats. Sharpclaw turned to him. "Nice job, Hawkheart. You taught that puny crowfood eater who's best."

Leafstar shot a glance at Sharpclaw. "You're not encouraging this, are you? Hawkheart, don't pick stupid fights like that _ever again_. As a warrior of SkyClan, you're supposed to show some respect for the Warrior Code and not to pick unnecessary fights!"

Hawkheart drooped his tail in shame. "Sorry, Leafstar." He mumbled. Sure, what he did was wrong, but there seemed to be a driving force behind it. He thought... no, he knew, that was he did was right. Breezepelt or whatever shouldn't think he's so great! At least Sharpclaw understood.

Hawkheart knew they were nearing his former Clan because he could spot the trees. Breezepelt led them on top of what seemed like the largest hill on WindClan. A gray and white apprentice was stationed there. She raised an eyebrow coolly, and Breezepelt flicked his tail. "I'll tell you later." He mewed curtly. The apprentice nodded, and Breezepelt continued across the moorland until they reached a stream. _The ThunderClan border! _Hawkheart thought, feeling a pang of anxiety in his chest. What would Dovewing and Bumblestripe think when they saw him? ...What would Nightfrost?

_She's too busy with Thornclaw. _he thought, and instinctively unsheathed his claws and sunk them into the soft grass by the stream. _She doesn't care about me anymore... her best friend._

_But didn't you want more than that?_

Hawkheart shook his head, clearing his thoughts away. He was a SkyClan cat now, and he couldn't spend all day thinking of a stupid ThunderClan warrior, right?

"This is the border." growled Breezepelt. "If I were you, I'd wait for a ThunderClan patrol to come by. Since the sun's setting, there's probably not going to be one, so you're better off getting lost in the woods. My job is finished. Good bye." He stalked through the tall grass, and heartbeats later he vanished.

Leafstar glanced at Sharpclaw. "Well, that was interesting, I suppose. I think we should go into the territory, since Hawkheart knows his way around. You can lead us to camp, right, Hawkheart?"

Hawkheart nodded with a sinking heart. He didn't want to go to ThunderClan. He was afraid of what might happen. "Leafstar, I don't think this is a good idea." he mewed tentatively. "ThunderClan's going to recognize me, and what am I supposed to stay?"

Leafstar gazed at him steadily. "You're a warrior of SkyClan now. Let your heart speak for you. It'll know the words. As long as you show them you're loyal to your new Clan, they'll understand. We may need to spend the night there - I'm sorry, Hawkheart - but the sun's setting. We'll still need to go to ShadowClan after ThunderClan, and we haven't had any food, water, or rest. We have to spend the night here. Would you rather spend the night here or WindClan? Actually, don't answer that. But you're coming, right? Maybe this will decide if you're truly a SkyClan cat. It can be like your assessment."

Hawkheart blinked, and nodded reluctantly. He supposed Leafstar's words made sense, and he did have to prove himself some way or another to her. Taking a step forward, he cleared his throat and mewed, "Let's go."


	23. Chapter TwentyOne: Bravery

**It happened again! Dx I was writing this and FF messed up... so I have to write this all. over. again. x_x;;;; It's gonna be a bit rushed.**

**Shamancy-Fancy-Kitteh - lol, i know xD and yay! i'm glad you like it3**

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><p>Cheetahpaw walked alongside her mentor Blackstar through the forest. Her ears were pricked and ready, and her paws were itching with a readiness to train. It was the first time her leader had ventured outside of the den since the Battle, and he had decided to train his apprentice first than rather talk to the Clan.<p>

"What are we learning today?" asked Cheetahpaw, bouncing next to her mentor. "A cool fighting move? A way to rule the Clans?"

A spark of humor lit her leader's dull eyes. "I'm afraid not, Cheetahpaw. I need to talk to you first, and then you're getting training from a very special cat."

Cheetahpaw's face fell. That wasn't any fun. It was two days after the meeting with Breezepelt, and after resting for a day, she was ready to get some exercise! "Well, what do you want to talk about?" she mewed sadly.

Blackstar glanced at her, and sat down. "Cheetahpaw, you must not tell any cat this, do you promise me?"

The ShadowClan narrowed her eyes suspiciously. What was her leader going to tell her. "Yes, Blackstar." she mewed finally.

Blackstar took a deep breath and looked into Cheetahpaw's eyes. "StarClan came to me in a dream last night. They spoke of how I was going to die soon... I'm on my last life, after all, and I'm dying of old age. Don't worry, there are worse things you're going to go through." Cheetahpaw was surprised. Worse things? "Anyway, they told me about you. You have a power unlike any other cat, Cheetahpaw, I don't know what it is but I know you have it. And telling by your face, you know you have it to. What I ask is that you use it wisely. There's another cat... four, I think, that have the same powers as you. Not the same powers, but powers all the same. Your duty is to find them and face the darkness ahead."

Cheetahpaw's fear melted into confusion. She knew there was something different about her ever since Starlingpaw had noticed her speed... but she didn't think it was... _StarClan_... special. She thought she was just faster than some cats... "Blackstar, I don't understand. I'm just faster than usual, but how do I save the Clan with my speed? If I was a WindClan cat that'd be helpful, but I'm not..."

"Shh." Blackstar hissed, standing up and backing into the bushes. His amber eyes twinkled as he murmured, "Your trainer is coming. After, you'll go on a hunting patrol with Starlingpaw and Tawnypelt. Remember what I told you. StarClan walk your path..."

As the bushes quivered and her leader disappeared, a figure appeared from the bushes. It's amber eyes glowed, and his dark tabby pelt covered his strong muscles. Tigerheart!

"Hello, Cheetahpaw." he rumbled. "Ready for a training session?"

-x-

"I'm not training with you." Cheetahpaw mewed stubbornly as they reached the training hollow. "You betrayed me and my whole Clan, why should I trust you?"

"Because I'm the only father you have, and the only father you'll ever have." Tigerheart growled. "Listen, I didn't just volunteer to train you fighting moves to hear you complain. I actually need to talk to you about something, so you have to listen, okay?"

Cheetahpaw kicked a loose strand of moss with her paw. More secrets was all she needed today. "Okay, what is it?" she growled, getting impatient. She didn't trust this cat any more than she trusted a fox.

"Sit down and try to listen to me." Tigerheart meowed. Realizing that it would be easier to go along with it than arguing, Cheetahpaw sat down with a twitch of her tail. Tigerheart sighed and began. "You're going to hate me even more than before after I've told you this, but your mother wanted me to tell you when the time was right, and I think that's now."

"I don't want anything to do with Applefur!" spat Cheetahpaw. "Nothing! She's even worse than you. She killed Snowbird." Her voice faltered, and she looked at her paws.

"You're mother isn't Applefur." Tigerheart meowed bluntly.

"Wh-what?" Cheetahpaw gasped. "Then - who is it? Snowbird? I look kind of like Kinkfur, then, right?" Her eyes were wide. "I thought I looked like Applefur! We had the same eyes..."

"You get those eyes from someone else." Tigerheart meowed. "And that other cat lives in ThunderClan. Cheetahpaw, your mother is Dovewing, and she lives in ThunderClan. I'm so sorry..."

Cheetahpaw was so stunned, she was silent. She regained her voice back a few heartbeats later. "So... I'm... half... Clan?"

Tigerheart nodded sadly. "You were supposed to be ThunderClan." he rasped. He looked sincerely sorry. "You... you have a brother, Hawkpaw. He ran away from ThunderClan, no cat knows where he is." He bowed his head. "Dovewing brought you to me because she wanted me to have one kit. Hawkpaw was in the Dark Forest, like me, but he was there for only two nights. Tigerstar manipulated him, and his Clanmates hated and ignored him because of it... so he ran away." His eyes bulged into her. "You're the only one I have left, Cheetahpaw, don't you realize? I'm all alone now..."

"But you're seeing that ThunderClan she-cat." Cheetahpaw pointed out softly. "Obviously, you're finding out all of this Hawkpaw stuff from her, unless you're seeing some other ThunderClan she-cat."

Tigerheart shook his head. "There's nothing between us anymore. I just see her sometimes so I can tell her news of you and she can tell me news of Hawkpaw... that's it."

Cheetahpaw shook her head, and stalked out of the training hollow. Right now, this was just too hard to bear.

-x-

Tigerheart had followed Cheetahpaw back to the camp and demanded that she learned something or else she would get in trouble, so Cheetahpaw had obliged. Tigerheart had taught her strange moves she had never seen before, and Cheetahpaw guessed they were Dark Forest moves. At sunhigh, Tigerheart let her go back to camp.

_But now I have another task to do... a hunting patrol with Tawnypelt and Starlingpaw. Starlingpaw's going to be all worrisome for me... I might as well act happy so he doesn't ask any awkward questions. _Cheetahpaw thought to herself as she trotted from the hollow. She saw Tawnypelt and Starlingpaw waiting for her at the entrance to the camp.

"Hey!" Starlingpaw mewed. Cheetahpaw returned the greeting cheerfully, while Tawnypelt nodded to her.

"O-kay." Tawnypelt meowed. "You two are going to go to the Nettle Patch to hunt squirrels. Littlecloud wants me to collect a few herbs with him, and then I'll be right there to watch you guys and help you, alright? I trust you guys enough to go hunting alone... don't ruin it for yourselves." Waving her tail, the tortoiseshell squeezed into the entrance, and when the tip of her tail disappeared, Starlingpaw stood up.

"Alright." He mewed. "Let's go, then." The two padded side by side. The Nettle Patch was far away, so of course, Starlingpaw started to talk to Cheetahpaw.

"You seem a bit more happy then usual lately. That's good... optimism's always good. I don't even have parents anymore since Russetfur died. But Blackstar's still my dad, although he doesn't pay much attention to me. But it's better than nothing, right? At least the Clan's starting to accept Tigerheart, Blackstar sure trusts him. Redwillow and Ratscar are still considered traitors, but they've always been shady. Your mom wasn't too bad..." Starlingpaw glanced at her, obviously waiting for an answer.

"Yeah." Cheetahpaw mewed distractedly. "At least they're starting to accept him... he wants to be involved in my life but I'm not sure if I want him in mine. Applefur wasn't much of a mother to me anyway. I never really had a bond with her." _She was never my mother anyway, but I can't tell Starlingpaw that. What would he think?_

Starlingpaw shrugged. "I mean, I wish Blackstar was involved in my life, you're luck - "

"What do you think of halfClan cats?" Cheetahpaw interrupted him.

Starlingpaw looked surprised, then narrowed his eyes. "Hmm. Well, pretty much, I think it matters whatever Clan they're... part of."

"I mean, hmm, ThunderClan and ShadowClan." Cheetahpaw mewed. "Like, what would you think of that?"

"Umm, I guess I wouldn't really care. No ShadowClan cat would go get with a ThunderClan cat, so it's not something to worry about, right? I mean, it's completely the parent's fault, not the kit's. In my mind, anyways." His clear, blue eyes looked thoughtful. "Aren't there half WindClan-ThunderClan cats in ThunderClan? Oh yeah, one's the medicine cat. A bad combination, if you ask me. At least in a ThunderClan-ShadowClan pairing you'd get good, pure blood. Well, not really the ThunderClan part. There's a lot of kittypets and rogues living in there. There's a lot of mixed blood there." He figured.

Cheetahpaw agreed, but spent the rest of the time thinking about her lineage. She knew Dovewing was the daughter of Whitewing and Birchfall... and Whitewing's dad was Cloudtail, right? She had heard a lot about Cloudtail... and that he used to be a kittypet! _So, I'm part kittypet? _She tried to calm herself down by thinking about Birchfall's lineage. _He looks a lot like Dustpelt... oh! Dustpelt's pure blood, I know that!_

_But that still means you're part-kittypet..._

"Hey, we're here." Starlingpaw mewed. Sure enough, the trees began to thin out and a large patch of nettles was visible. In the Nettle Patch, a lot of burrows were on the ground, so you had to be very careful when stalking prey. Squirrels ate nuts in abundance, and they were very common here. "I'll hunt near the trees over there, and you can get the middle of the Nettle Patch."

"Okay." Cheetahpaw mewed, stalking to the middle. Immediately, a squirrel popped out of its burrow and started nibbling on an acorn. Taking her chance, Cheetahpaw leaped at the squirrel and hooked it with her claws. She delivered a swift bite to its' neck. The squirrel twitched and was dead. Smirking, the ShadowClan apprentice turned around to bury her prey. Two things happened at once then; a shriek, and a ginger blob charged at the black and white figure that was running towards her.

The black and white animal batted at the ginger blob, who was on top of the creature and clawing it. Gasping, Cheetahpaw dropped the squirrel. As she charged forward, time seemed to slow. The badger rolled over and Starlingpaw tried to escape, but the badger had crushed his hindleg. The brave apprentice was bleeding badly, but the light of battle still shone in his eyes. With his front paw, he slashed the badger's back. The badger howled and jumped up. Seeing his chance, Starlingpaw dragged himself away, unable to use his leg. Cheetahpaw jumped at the badger, who was recovering from its awkward jump. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion.

She unsheathed her claws and landed squarely on the badger's neck. The badger collapsed to the ground, trying to take her down. Cheetahpaw jumped, and landed again on the badger's back. Her teeth met its' neck. The badger twisted over, howling at Cheetahpaw's bite. It's claws caught her tail and started raking it. Yowling in rage, Cheetahpaw turned around and clawed the badger's face. Blood welled around its' eyes, and the creature was momentarily blinded. This was her chance. Cheetahpaw slid under the badger and raked her claws across its stomach until blood poured from it. By now, the badger was twitching. It collapsed, and Cheetahpaw sped away. The badger tried to claw her from the ground again, but Cheetahpaw ran in all directions, confusing the badger. Finally, she cuffed its' face and the badger gave one last twitch, and was still.

"It's dead." Time went back to normal again. Cheetahpaw recognized a familiar mew behind her. "You _killed _a badger."

Cheetahpaw spun around to see Tawnypelt staring at her, her eyes wide in shock. "You were so fast! I couldn't even see you! You beat that badger up in five heartbeats. That was incredible, Cheetahpaw. You saved a Clanmate and risked your life. Starlingpaw, you risked your life to save a Clanmate as well. Are you both okay?"

Starlingpaw had stood up now. "Yeah." he mewed. "I just think I twisted my paw. That badger landed on it pretty badly."

"Well, you're both going to see Littlecloud. You both are bleeding heavily. And when you get out of the den, I promise by StarClan you'll have a great reward for your actions."

Cheetahpaw padded out of Littlecloud's den at twilight, feeling much better. Her claw marks were covered in cobwebs, and she had a nice rest. Starlingpaw was behind her. It turned out he had a dislocated leg, but Littlecloud put it back in place. All of the ShadowClan cats were gathered around the High Branch.

"Wonder what's going on." Starlingpaw mewed as they approached the scene.

"Probably Dewkit, Mistkit and Sparrowkit's apprentice ceremony." Cheetahpaw concluded. It seemed right; the younger kits' apprentice ceremonies were long overdue.

"On the contrary," came a deep voice behind them. "it's another ceremony for a few well-deserving cats."

Cheetahpaw spun around to see Rowanclaw. "Hi, Rowanclaw!" she mewed happily. "Who's ceremony is it?"

Rowanclaw's eyes shone with pride and amusement. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." he mewed softly, flicking his kin's ear with his tail. "I heard you both killed a badger one-pawed. That's very impressive, not even the best fighter in all of the Clans could do such a thing!"

"Thanks." the two apprentices mewed as Rowanclaw dipped his head and padded away.

They sat on the edges of the crowd. Pinefur spun around, and looked at them with confused eyes. "What are you two doing back here? You're sitting up in the front." she mewed obviously.

Cheetahpaw made her way through the crowd to the front of the gathering of cats. Blackstar and Tawnypelt were looking proud, their fur slicked back and groomed. Cheetahpaw felt a pang in her chest. She knew what was coming.

"As you all know," Blackstar began. "These two apprentices killed a badger and saved each other's lives at the Nettle Patch. Without their bravery and willingness to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their Clan, they wouldn't be here right now, and the badger would still be roaming the forest. It is time for their warrior ceremonies!"

The crowd roared in approval, and Starlingpaw and Cheetahpaw exchanged an excited glance. This was it! It was their warrior ceremony!

"I, Blackstar, leader of ShadowClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentice. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Cheetahpaw and Starlingpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." Cheetahpaw mewed excitedly, unable to keep the want out of her voice.

"I do." Starlingpaw answered solemnly. Cheetahpaw glanced at him, it seemed as if his voice had suddenly taken on a deeper tone.

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your new names. Starlingpaw, from this moment on you shall be known as Starlingclaw. StarClan honors your energy and willingness to put yourself in front of others, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ShadowClan."

Starlingclaw stepped forward and licked Blackstar's shoulder, while the leader rested his muzzle on Starlingclaw's head. Cheetahpaw understood why Starlingclaw had received his warrior name first; it was Blackstar showing his a respectful mark of seniority over Cheetahpaw.

"Cheetahpaw, by the powers of StarClan I give you your new name. From this moment on you shall be known as Cheetahfur. StarClan honors your agility and bravery, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ShadowClan."

Cheetahfur stepped forward and licked her leader's shoulder. As Blackstar bent down to rest his muzzle on her head, he whispered, "I'm very proud of you. You saved us from a terrible danger... thank you."

"Starlingclaw! Cheetahfur! Starlingclaw! Cheetahfur!" The Clan yowled as they huddled around to greet the new warriors.


	24. Chapter TwentyTwo: A Secret Revealed

**Lol, yes, Fred, Starlingclaw does have fuzzy claws. There's not really any good ungirly names for "Starling-", though.**

**Thanks to all of the nice reviews :D And these are young cats so they're a bit pervy lol... in ThunderClan anyway ;D**

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><p>Nightfrost was curled up next to Thornclaw in the warriors den. The morning light seeped through the trees and into the den. The newest ThunderClan warrior placed her tail over her eyes, but Thornclaw's restless snoring didn't help any. Yawning, she stretched, closing her eyes. She made her way through the sleeping warriors and outside of the warrior's den. A yowl broke the peace.<p>

It was coming from the nursery. _Hazeltail! _Nightfrost heard her brother's calming mew, "Hazeltail, it's going to be okay. Just bite down on this stick when the pain comes, okay?"

Next, she heard Jayfeather's mew. "You're doing a great job, Snowheart." The blind medicine cat mewed. _Snowheart? What was he talking about? _Confused, Nightfrost bounded into the den, lightly peeking her head in. The two older kits, Redkit and Robinkit, watched Hazeltail's spasms. _Oh! I know what's happening... Hazeltail's giving birth. _"Jayfeather?" she panted, peeking her head in. Her kin looked at her with blind blue eyes.

"Hello, Nightfrost. Have you come to watch the kits being born this early?" Jayfeather asked, raising his eyebrows.

"N-yeah! Well, no. I just heard Hazeltail yowling, and I wanted to know why... if you want me out, that's okay..." Nightfrost mewed awkwardly, taking a pace back.

"No." Jayfeather blinked, glancing at Hazeltail. "Don't leave. You can be of use while she's giving birth. Can you go get her some moss soaked with water? It's in my den. Foxleap won't leave her side." Nightfrost glanced at Foxleap... who thought he was the father. She wondered if Toadstep had been telling the truth... that he was the father. If the secret ever broke, then Hazeltail and Toadstep could be in trouble.

"Yes, Jayfeather." she mewed, looking at her brother. The white tom with the faint gray tabby stripes hadn't even acknowledged her, let alone told her his new name. "But first - Snowpaw, did you receive your medicine cat name?"

Her brother was focused on the birth, but he turned around, his green eyes focused and proud. "Yeah, it's Snowheart! Last night Jayfeather awarded me with it! Sorry I didn't tell you, you were sleeping in the middle of the warrior's den and I didn't want to wake you up." He blinked. "But get the moss first, okay?"

"I'm so proud of you." Nightfrost mewed softly, reaching out with her tail and touching her brother's muzzle. As he turned around, she padded out of the den. The medicine cat's den was right next to the nursery, so Nightfrost got the moss in no time. She was padding back to the nursery when she remembered... Toadstep! He should be here for his kit's birth, right?

_No... you need to get Hazeltail the moss first. She could be in pain._

Nightfrost agreed with her conscious and ducked back into the nursery, where Blossomfall was herding out her kits, Redkit and Robinkit. Redkit, a red-brown tabby tom, blinked up at Nightfrost with huge eyes. "Mommy won't let us see the birth, so we're gonna go wait for daddy when he comes back from patrol!" His sister, an almost identical version of her brother except for her amber eyes, nodded. "I wanted to see the new kits." she whined.

"You'll be happier when you see Mousewhisker." Blossomfall mewed, speaking of her mate. "Watching kits being born is no fun... and not appropriate for younger kits."

As Nightfrost padded over to Hazeltail, she heard Redkit mew, "Mommy, where do kits come from?"

Hazeltail's kits still hadn't arrived.

"I brought the moss." the ThunderClan warrior mewed, her voice muffled by the moss. "What do I do with it?"

"Give it to me." Jayfeather ordered. Nightfrost did as she was instructed. Jayfeather bent over Hazeltail and the water from the moss dripped in the she-cat's mouth. Her spasms were getting more sharp and lasted for longer. Her mouth parted in a silent yowl. Her mother, Daisy, sat beside her. "You're going to be okay." she whispered. "I've been through a few kit-births myself... you're going to be fine."

"Yes, StarClan will bless you with beautiful kits." Ferncloud mewed softly. Turning to Nightfrost, she mewed, "She's been kitting since midnight, the poor thing." Nightfrost nodded, her eyes traveling to Hazeltail. Snowheart felt her stomach, and turned to Jayfeather.

"How many kits do you think they'll be?" asked Jayfeather, feeling around Hazeltail's stomach himself.

"Three." reported Snowheart. "And maybe... a fourth?"

Jayfeather nodded. "Yes, there's going to be about three or four kits. Usually, with four kits, one dies or is very weak." He turned to Hazeltail. "The kits are beginning to come out." He mewed briskly. "Nightfrost, fetch me that stick."

Nightfrost fetched him the stick. Jayfeather placed it in Hazeltail's mouth. "Remember, bite when the pain comes." he mewed.

Hazeltail nodded, her eyes wide with fear. Foxleap sat on the other side of her, his eyes wide and shocked. Nightfrost bent over and whispered in Hazeltail's ear, "You'll be okay. You're kits will be beautiful, and they'll survive. Three kits are a gift to ThunderClan... you are truly blessed to produce them. They'll be healthy, fine kits. Don't worry... be strong."

Hazeltail looked up at Nightfrost, her eyes full of thanks. "I - I thought Thornclaw was for me." she rasped, bending up to whisper into Nightfrost's ear. "I was so jealous when he chose y-you... but I-I've realized you're a good c-cat, Nightfrost. I-I was wrong to j-judge you, I'm sorry." Her eyes closed in pain. "F-forgive me."

"Y-yes! I-I do! But you're speaking as if - " Nightfrost mewed, her eyes wide. Hazeltail was speaking as if she was about to die!

Suddenly, a kit slid out. Snowheart yowled, "Someone! Lick it! I'm too busy." Daisy rushed over and began licking the kit. Soon, another kit slid out. Ferncloud began licking it. Finally, another. Nightfrost rushed over to lick it. It's gray tabby fur was soaked as she broke it's sac. Then, she began to lick it.

A wail rose from her brother. Abandoning the mewling kit, Nightfrost rushed over to see what was happening.

"Hazeltail, no!" Snowheart mewed, lightly nudging her. "You have one more kit, you can do it! Just push!"

Daisy yowled and hurried over to Hazeltail. Ferncloud picked up all three of the kits and pushed them close to Hazeltail's belly. "Hazeltail, if you die, these kits will! No other she-cat in the Clan has any milk for four kits."

Hazeltail gasped as the last kit slid out. Foxleap still wasn't responding. His thin, muscular form was bent over Hazeltail, and he began licking her fur. "Hazeltail, please don't die. You can't leave me."

The gray and white she-cat shook her head. "I-I know I-I'm passing on to StarClan. B-but before I-I go..." She started bleeding where the final kit had come out. Jayfeather wasn't doing anything, just standing over Hazeltail with his head bowed. "...I-I must admit something. Foxleap, these kits aren't yours." With a last shudder, Hazeltail's spasms stopped, and her eyes rolled back in the head.

Foxleap gasped and stopped licking his mate's fur. "What? Hazeltail, that's not funny, wake up. Hazeltail, please... who's kits are they? You're just kidding, right? Well, it's not funny!" His last words ended in a yowl, and Ferncloud curled up next to him.

Daisy's eyes were hollow. "If they're not Foxleap's kits... then who's are they?"


	25. Chapter TwentyThree: Kits Kits Kits

**:O! Hazeltail died and gave away the secret! What will happen now? Not a bad cliffhanger, eh? Although we already knew that these kits are actually Toadstep's :/ Whoops.**

**TheVampLuvr1 - Yeah... that's why I kind of made a side story about the cheetah's xD There was no other 'speedy' name that I liked for her, so I made up a side story about them xD**

**Sunmist - Sure! And actually, I just read your review as I finished typing this chapter xD Nightfrost talks to Thornclaw, don't worry!**

**Shmancy-Fancy-Kitteh - Haha, i know xD I had to kill her off though... you'll see :D**

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><p>Nightfrost closed her eyes, shaking her head. What had Hazeltail done? The dead she-cat could have died, and the secret would have never gotten out, providing Toadstep and Nightfrost kept their mouths shut. But could Nightfrost reveal the secret now? Or would the kit's appearances?<p>

Foxleap stalked out of the den, and Ferncloud bounded after him to comfort the angry and betrayed tom. Daisy ran out to tell Blossomfall what happened, and ask her if she had any spare milk. The four kits were mewling, waiting for their milk. Snowheart and Jayfeather had began to remove Hazeltail from the den, and asked Nightfrost to feed them some water.

The she-cat bent over the kits as they lapped up the water from the moss. One was an exact copy of Toadstep, the other a gray tabby, one a silver tabby, and the other a dark-cream-colored kit. Three were toms, and one was a she-kit. The she-kit was the silver tabby.

Blossomfall rushed in, her eyes wide. Jayfeather and Snowheart had carried Hazeltail out, and the nursery was empty except for Nightfrost and the four kits. "Give them to me!" she rasped, lying down. The kits attached to her immediately. Blossomfall looked at Nightfrost sadly. "They need names." she whispered. "They're beautiful kits... and it's a shame that Hazeltail died." Blossomfall blinked. "But I wonder who the father is?" ThunderClan had began to trust Blossomfall, but Nightfrost still was a bit suspicious around her.

"I... I know... I mean I don't." Nightfrost mewed quickly, glancing at Blossomfall. "Uh... who's going to name them?"

Blossomfall shrugged. "Well, Daisy told me 'Quick, the kits need milk! Hazeltail is dead! Be their milk-mother! Please?' And I said, 'Can I name them, then?' and Daisy said, 'Oh, I don't care, do whatever you like! They'll need names anyway, but first they need to _survive!_' So, I guess we can name them if you'd like."

Nightfrost bent down to examine the kits. "This should be a Frostkit." she mewed, poking the silver tabby. "Do you have any other suggestions?" she looked up at Blossomfall.

"No." Blossomfall mewed. "You seem to have good names, how about you come up with them? I'm terrible with names, Mousewhisker came up with my kit's."

"Okay." Nightfrost agreed. "I think we should name the cream colored tom Flamekit... and maybe the gray tabby tom Duskkit. I think the black and white tom should be called Patchkit."

Blossomfall nodded. "Those are good names." she meowed. "Although, I think we should see if it's okay with Foxleap. They don't even know if he's the father, poor thing."

"Yeah." Nightfrost mewed absently. "Well, I'll be seeing you, then." She climbed out of the den as Blossomfall mewed a farewell. Thornclaw was waiting in the middle of the clearing, looking at Hazeltail's still body. He turned towards Nightfrost as she padded out.

"I heard she died while giving birth." murmured Thornclaw. His eyes looked sad, but he didn't look very upset. "To four kits, right?"

Nightfrost nodded. "It was so sad." she rasped, remembering Hazeltail's apology. "She just... died..."

Thornclaw looked into Nightfrost's eyes, and Nightfrost thought she saw a flash of want there. "Yeah." he agreed. "I also heard she confessed that Foxleap wasn't the true father... but if he isn't, then who is? Do you know...?"

"Hazeltail and I were never close." admitted Nightfrost. "You could always look at the kits, their appearances might give away who the father is. I wouldn't be that concerned, though, unless the kits are halfClan. But Hazeltail wouldn't do that, right?"

"I need to talk to you!" blurted out Thornclaw suddenly. "In - in the woods. Where no other cats will here us." He glanced up at the sky. "It's after dawn, so the patrols are going to be far away. We'll go to the lake, okay? I just need to talk to you." He bounded away into the entrance. Narrowing her eyes, Nightfrost followed. The usually silent and serious cat was now energetic and seemed... excited. What did he want to talk about?

A golden tail bouncing in front of her let Nightfrost know Thornclaw was ahead. They ran through trees, brambles, and bushes. Nightfrost's skin was slashed by thorns, but she kept going. Suddenly, Thornclaw stopped, and Nightfrost barreled into him, unable to stop. They rolled down the slope until they stopped by the lake's shore.

Thornclaw was on top of her, panting. "Sorry." he gasped. "I stopped without warning. That's my fault." He didn't make any move to get up and neither did Nightfrost.

He looked down at her. "Am I crushing you?" he asked. Nightfrost shook her head. "No, not at all."

"Okay." Thornclaw answered. "My legs are a bit tired." He rolled off of her and landed on her side. Nightfrost shifted so that she was facing him. "We need to talk." Thornclaw mewed.

"About what?" Nightfrost asked casually. The lake lapped at her paws.

Thornclaw blinked his blue eyes. "I - I want to know what this is... where we're going." He said at last. "I mean.. I... I really like you, Nightfrost, but I'm not sure if you like me back. Well, I mean... do you? I need someone in my life... and I think you're that cat."

Nightfrost's mind buzzed. So Thornclaw _did _like her... and by now, she was positive that she liked him. "Thornclaw... yes. I do, too." She managed to get out.

Thornclaw pushed himself up, and when Nightfrost went to do the same, he pushed her down with his tail. "I know this sounds terrible, but I'm a bit... relived that Hazeltail's gone. She really liked me, and I was afraid of what she would do if she found out we were mates." He admitted. "That's why I kind of... didn't start anything until now. I've always admired you, Nightfrost... and... and... I want to know if you want to be my mate."

_Didn't I already say yes..? _Nightfrost thought. "Y-yes, I do."

Thornclaw closed his eyes. "Then... does that mean you want to have my kits? If you still want to be a warrior, I'd understand... but I've always wanted kits of my own with a mate. I've never had that luxury. I look at my brother in envy when he interacts with his kits. I've always wanted that."

_Do I want kits, too? I'm afraid what happen to me will happen to Hazeltail... but my brother and everyone in the Clan will be supportive of me. Not every she-cat dies of having kits, right? _"I would like that more than anything." Nightfrost mewed.

Thornclaw smirked, and Nightfrost knew what was happening. She didn't stop him, though. They were now mates and she would bear his kits. That was part of being a warrior, right?


	26. Chapter TwentyFour: Sky Meets Thunder

**AN: Aww, thanks for the nice comments guys :D And, yes, TheVampLuvr, I was actually considering naming one of the kits Hazelkit :3 She's one of my favorite characters in the book actually xD**

**Oh, and that's a typo awesomesauces. There's supposed to be 5 prophecy cats including Cheetahfur and Nightfrost. I'll give you a hint: check the actual books ;D**

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><p>Taking a deep breath, Hawkheart stepped onto the border. ThunderClan scent wreathed around him. He glanced up at the sky. It was dawn. The SkyClan cats had decided to hunt and drink, and by the time they were finished it had been dawn. "Okay." he meowed. "Let's go." He felt the presence of Leafstar and Sharpclaw behind him as he jumped across the stream. The woods were familiar to him; but he longed for the taller, denser trees of SkyClan. It was strange, he was a born ThunderClan cat but he was more accustomed to SkyClan. It was a pity he wasn't related to them. Sometimes, he liked to pretend he was.<p>

He winded through the trees until a fresh scent hit the roof of his mouth. "Patrol coming!" he hissed, prepared to jump into the bushes.

"Stop!" whispered Sharpclaw from behind him. "If we hide, we'll seem like more of a threat. You can't be afraid of your birth Clan, Hawkheart."

Hawkheart closed his eyes, preparing to meet his Clanmates. What would they think of him? He hoped that they didn't recognize him. He'd grown a bit more since his last encounter with him, and plus, he got a new name. But his dark brown tabby fur, large muscles, huge shoulders, long claws, and amber eyes were unique to him alone. He was easily recognizable. Hawkheart liked to think he looked like Brambleclaw... but he wasn't related to him, so he assumed he got his looks from Dustpelt.

The ferns quivered, and three cats stepped out. Toadstep, Graystripe and Sorreltail all were growling with their claws unsheathed. Hawkheart could tell they were about to jump at him, when he heard a yowl, "Stop!"

Graystripe and Toadstep stopped. Sorreltail had unsheathed her claws, and her eyes were wide. She was looking straight at Hawkheart. _Oh, no. Leave it to Sorreltail to recognize me in the middle of a fight. _"Hawkpaw, it's you! And who have you brought with you? Where did you go...?"

By now, the two ThunderClan toms had sheathed their claws and looked as shocked as Sorreltail. Stepping forward, Hawkheart mewed, "It's Hawkheart, now. And this is Leafstar and Sharpclaw. They're the leader and deputy of the new Clan by the lake. I've joined them."

"It's no time for jokes!" Graystripe exclaimed. "We've been looking for you everywhere! Ravenpaw says he saw you, but won't reveal where. Are these two cats your friends?"

"I'm not joking!" Hawkheart mewed. "I'm serious! I was sick of how I've been treated here, so I left and joined SkyClan. Firestar helped them awhile ago when he went away with Sandstorm. They've come to live by the lake, and want ThunderClan's approval. Please take me to Lionstar."

"B- but you're a member of ThunderClan." Toadstep sounded hurt. "Not Sky-whatever! You're a ThunderClan cat."

Hawkheart shook his head sadly. "I'm not being a member of a Clan where I'm not accepted. In SkyClan, I belong. Please bring us to Lionstar."

Graystripe bared his teeth. Hawkheart remembered that they were kin, and Graystripe wouldn't take his grandson leaving ThunderClan too easily. His anger seemed to relax, and he nodded his head. Hawkheart noticed that the senior warrior's tail had drooped. "Okay, we'll take you to Lionstar." Graystripe agreed. "But Hawkpaw- er, Hawkheart, please consider coming back to ThunderClan. You would have been a great warrior here."

"I'm sorry, Graystripe," Hawkheart mewed as they began walking back to the camp. "But I know where my loyalties lie. I would never be accepted at ThunderClan, and I feel as if I will belong in SkyClan."

Graystripe stopped, as did the patrol. Graystripe signaled for the other cats to move on. Leafstar gave Hawkheart a sharp glance, but he ignored it. He knew he wouldn't come back, and Graystripe - well, no one - could convince him otherwise. "Hawkheart... it's really brave of you to leave, I admit it." When the patrol was out of earshot, they started to walk slowly to the camp. "Tawnypelt left ThunderClan because she didn't think she belonged, and look at what a great warrior she is. I guess I'm just upset because you're my kin, and I care about you. If you truly feel more accepted in SkyClan, then the Clan - and I - must accept that you're not loyal to ThunderClan anymore."

"Thanks for understanding." meowed Hawkheart, sincerely meaning it. "It means a lot. I'm sorry that ThunderClan wasn't... right for me."

Graystripe nodded his broad head. "No need to be sorry. But you must remember, if our Clans go to battle, ThunderClan will still fight our hardest against you and your Clan, and you will do the same."

"I know." Hawkheart mewed. Honestly, he had never thought of that before. The thought of Nightfrost attacking him or vise versa made him feel sick. He didn't want to fight her! _She likes Thornclaw now, so it'll make no difference to her._ Hawkheart blinked away his pain, and shook his head to clear it.

"Are you okay?" Graystripe asked as they reached the camp. "You seem sad."

"I'm fine... just bringing back memories." whispered Hawkheart. He screwed up his eyes as he ducked into the camp. Slowly, he opened them. The Clan was already gathered around Sharpclaw and Leafstar, and were all staring at Hawkheart. Suddenly, he felt a body bowl him over.

_Dovewing?_

His mother had tackled him. "You're back!" she screeched. "These wonderful cats have brought you back! Oh, thank you!" she meowed, getting off of him. "You're back, you're finally back!"

"Mom." Hawkheart began, inching away from his mother. "I-I'm not coming back. I'm staying with these cats."

Dovewing glared at him. "That's not funny." she hissed. "You've been gone for _a quarter moon _and I've been so worried!"

"He's not joking." Ravenpaw mewed, coming out of the warrior's den, followed by Lionstar. They looked like they had been talking. "Hawkheart ran away and joined SkyClan - the new Clan that these cats have been forming."

Dovewing's anger faded into confusion. "But - why?" she asked, her eyes wide. "Why would you leave us?"

Hawkheart had noticed all of the Clan cats were gathered around him now. Except... he couldn't find Thornclaw or Nightfrost. Where did they go...? Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward. The harsh newleaf sun beat on his dark tabby fur, but that made him feel stronger. "I wasn't accepted here." He declared. "Cats judged me for visiting the Dark Forest and betrayed them. As far as I know, no ThunderClan cats lay a claw on any other cat, let alone kill them! Like the other cats, I was manipulated by the Dark Forest. They told me I could be a better warrior..." _That maybe Nightfrost- Nightpaw, then - would start to notice me if I was an amazing fighter... _"... if I trained with them. They said that the other Clans were attacking our Clan, and that's why we had to fight! But whatever I did, no cat listened. No one would ever have trusted me here, and I'm not loyal to a Clan who doesn't trust me. I ran away, which was being a coward on my part, but I found SkyClan. They accepted me for who I was, not what I did, and I know I will be more loyal to a Clan who treats me for who I am now, and not what I did in the past!"

His final words were greeted with silence. Finally, Lionstar stepped forward. He dipped his head at Hawkheart, and Hawkheart took a step back, appalled that his former leader would bow his head to _him_. "I respect your decision." Lionstar announced. "I know how manipulative the Dark Forest can be, and Hawkheart, you were unfairly judged. You will always have a place in ThunderClan, but since you have chosen another Clan... that position isn't there anymore. If you join SkyClan, you'll have to fight your friends and kin. Would you accept that?"

Hawkheart nodded. "I'm loyal to SkyClan. ThunderClan isn't my Clan anymore. I'll always respect it, but it's not my Clan. But, I think you should let Leafstar speak... we didn't come here to discuss what Clan I'm more loyal to." He nodded awkwardly and scurried over to Sharpclaw. He felt the glares of his kin, friends, and Clanmates scorch his fur.

Sharpclaw touched his tail to Hawkheart's shoulder. "Nice job, youngster." He whispered. "You handled it like a true warrior... a cat thirty moons older than you. I'm proud and glad that you're a SkyClan cat."

Hawkheart was shocked. "T-thanks, Sharpclaw!" he murmured. Leafstar was telling the ThunderClan cats about their story. Finally, Sandstorm stepped forward. She had been standing beside Mousefur, and Hawkheart guessed she was an elder now. She looked very old and frail. "Leafstar!" she rasped. "It's me, Sandstorm. Firestar is dead, as you know, but I must tell you all, SkyClan cats are very respectful, nice cats. They deserve to live on our borders."

"Sandstorm!" gasped Leafstar, stepping forward to touch noses with the she-cat. "It's so nice to see you, finally!"

"You too," Sandstorm murmured. "Is that Sharpclaw? You look older!"

Hawkheart felt Sharpclaw stiffen. "Uh... yeah. Nice to see you, Sandstorm."

"How is Echosong doing?" Sandstorm mewed.

"She's doing great." Leafstar responded. "She has an apprentice now!"

"Oh, that's wonderful." Sandstorm closed her eyes. "It's nice to see SkyClan's thriving." She turned towards Lionstar. "I would accept their request." she mewed. "Firestar and I helped rebuilt them, as Leafstar said. Again, they are cats bound by the warrior code, and are not thieves. All of them deserve to live by the lake."

Lionstar nodded. "Sandstorm's an elder, and she's visited these cats firsthand." he declared. "SkyClan, I give you permission to live on our borders. Will you be joining us for the Gathering in four day's time? I think you should go back to your camp now, if all of the other leaders have accepted than Blackstar will, too. Go get some rest. It's not worth walking all the way around the lake again, and ShadowClan warriors aren't very nice to intruders. Promise me you'll go back to your camp?"

"We promise." answered Leafstar. "And we'll see you at the next Gathering. Hawkheart, you know where it is, correct?"

Hawkheart nodded.

"Then we'll be going." Sharpclaw mewed quickly. "Nice meeting you all, bye."

The SkyClan cats made their way quickly out of the camp, Hawkheart in front. Hawkheart turned around to make sure that the SkyClan cats were following, when he bumped into something.

"Hawkheart!" it gasped, and Hawkheart recognized the voice at once.

It was Nightfrost.


End file.
